I  STAND ! 


NARRATIVES  AND  SKETCHES  FROM   REFORMATION  DAYS 
my  TH.  GRAEBNER. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  by  JOHN  GRAEBNER. 


"HERE  I  STAND !" 


NARRATIVES  and  SKETCHES 
FROM  REFORMATION  DAYS 

By 
TH.  GRAEBNER 

TRANSLATED  FROM   THE  GERMAN 

by 

JOHN   GRAEBNER. 


Profusely  illustrated. 


*sKP* 


-0Hi-r 


ERNST  KAUFMANN 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  2224  N.  William  St. 


og/  ywoi/O 


1.    'The  First  Lutheran." 

(Hartmut  von  Kronberg) 

E  was",  says  Ranke,  "in  a  certain  sense,  the  first 
pious,  fully  convinced  Lutheran".  A  man  whom  such 
a  great  historian  called  "the  first  Lutheran"  is  surely 
worthy  to  be  kept  in  honored  memory  and  to  be 
spoken  of  especially  at  this  time,  the  four  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  Reformation  being  close  at  hand. 
His  entire  life,  from  the  time  when  he  became  associated  with 
Luther,  can  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  the  great  Reformer, 
entitling  this  little  book,  "Here  I  Standi"  With  self-sacrificing 
courage  he  boldly  devoted  his  life  to  the  Gospel's  cause.  He  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Reformation.  Though  he  did  not  suffer 
a  martyr's  death,  his  life  was  that  of  a  martyr  to  the  Lutheran  faith. 
Hartmut  von  Kronberg  was  born  in  1488.  The  Kron- 
bergers  were  quite  well  to  do  and  played  an  important  part  among 
the  German  knighthood.  Hartmut  had  early  taken  his  stand  with 
Luther.  He  actively  participated  in  the  Diet  at  Worms,  and  after 
he  had  unsuccessfully  spoken  to  the  Emperor  in  Luther's  behalf,  he 
undertook  to  wield  the  pen  in  place  of  the  accustomed  sword,  and 
published  a  number  of  writings  in  which  he  very  openly  endorsed 
Luther's  doctrine.  These  treatises  were  written  in  a  sharp  tone.  It 
was  especially  by  the  bold  language  which  Hartmut  used,  that  he 
incurred  the  enmity  of  Luther's  opponents. 

Hartmut  was  an  associate  of  Franz  von  Sickingen,  whom,  to- 
gether with  another  fearless  knight,  Ulrich  von  Hutten,  he  had  won 
for  Luther's  side.  But  when  the  feud  between  Sickingen  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Treves  had  ended  unfavorably  for  the  promoters  of 
the  Reformation,  Hartmut,  like  his  friends,  retreated  to  a  place 
of  safety.  The  Archbishop  of  Treves,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and 
the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  made  a  united  effort  to  inflict  swift 
punishment  and  bring  destruction  upon  all  the  adherents  of  Sik- 
kingen,  and  the  first  to  fall  a  victim  to  this  unholy  alliance  was 
Hartmut  von  Kronberg.  Hartmut  was  not  prepared  for  any  de- 
fense, and  after  he  had  very  bravely  held  the  fortress  for  several 
days,  he  was  finally  compelled  to  withdraw;  through  a  secret  tunnel 
he  escaped.  He  had  saved  his  life,  but  that  was  all.  The  city  and 
the  fortress  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  the  entire  Kron- 
berg estate  was  assigned   to  Landgrave   Philip   as  spoil   of  war. 

Hartmut,  now  an  exile  from  home,  did  not  despair  in  his  sad 
condition.  He  trusted  in  God,  and  having  a  firm  faith,  which  he 
expressed  in  a  large  number  of  writings  that  issued  from  his  pen 
(hiring  his  exile,  he  took  comfort  and  good  courage  from  thai   Hook, 


—  4  — 

which  was  the  sole  foundation  of  his  faith  and  life,  the  Holy  Bible. 
The  divine  word  of  Scripture  was  so  unmistakably  clear  and  so 
convincingly  sure  to  him,  that  it  supplied  him  with  all  the  instruc- 
tion and  the  courage  that  he  needed  for  the  defense  of  the  truth 
and  the  fight  against  error,  as  we  see  chiefly  from  his  writings  of 
the  year  1521  and  1522.  These  writings  exerted  a  mighty  influence 
chiefly  upon  the  city  of  Strasburg.  Next  to  Luther's  books,  those 
of  the  knight  of  Kronberg  were  then  most  widely  read  at  Strasburg 
and  elsewhere  in  Germany;  they  were  hungrily  devoured  by  the 
people   throughout    the    land.      These    writings    were    a    message    of 


Fran/,  von  Sickingren. 


light  and  deliverance,  and  what  appealed  in  particular  to  the  com- 
mon people  in  Hartmut's  writings  was  the  simplicity  and  even  crude- 
ness  of  his  language.  Himself  not  a  scholar,  he  wrote  in  the 
language  of  the  untutored  masses,  and  his  words  touched  their 
hearts. 

We  find  throughout  the  writings  of  the  noble  knight  of  Kron- 
berg expressions  of  faith  in  God  and  of  firm  trust  in  His  goodness 
and  mercy.  The  vanity  of  all  earthly  goods  compared  with  the 
heavenly  treasures,  which  are  much  more  precious,  and  never  fade 
away,  and  which  all  who  believe  in  God,  trusting  in  His  mercy  in 
Christ,  hold  as  a  sure  possession,  even  though  they  daily  sin  much 
— the  substance  of  Luther's  preaching,  that  is  what  Hartmut  again 


—   5   — 

and  again  repeats.  Whatever  is  against  Luther,  says  Hartmut,  is 
of  the  devil,  but  we  must  deal  mercifully  and  not  revengefully 
with  the  enemy  in  his  stubborn  blindness.  From  faith  alone  can 
flow  love  toward  our  neighbor.  That  is  why  Luther's  doctrine 
of  faith  is  the  only  means  whereby  the  church  can  be  reformed 
and  all  the  ills  of  this  world  healed.  That  was  in  short  the  creed 
of  Hartmut  von  Kronberg. 

In  one  of  his  writings  he  says,  Luther's  doctrine  is  truly  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  "He  that  follows  this  doctrine,  follows  not 
Luther,  but  Christ.     We  do  not  believe  Doctor  Luther  any  further 


I'liicli  von  Mutton. 


than  we  find  him  founded  in  the  holy  Gospel."  Luther  endorses 
this  statement  of  Hartrnut  in  an  open  letter  which  he  wrote  as  a 
word  of  commendation  to  go  with  Hartmut's  book.  The  letter 
begins  with  the  great  Reformer's  opinion  of  Hartmut.  "I  thank 
my  Cod."  writes  Luther,  "for  the  grace  and  favor  which  you  pos- 
sess in  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian  truth,  and  in  your  willingness 
to  suffer  for  the  same.  Your  words  evidently  come  from  the  bottom 
of  your  heart,  and  they  show  that  the  Word  of  Cod  is  not  only 
in  your  mouth  and  ears,  but  in  your  heart,  making  you  bold  to 
preach  and  confess  it,  not.  only  in  words  but  also  in  deed,  before 
and  against  all  the  world."  Truly,  an  opinion  of  which  Hartmut 
had   reason   to   feel    proud. 


—  6  — 

Luther  wrote  the  letter  for  Hartmut's  book  in  March,  1522. 
On  April  14th,  Hartmut,  in  a  modest  and  humble  manner,  replied. 

He  states  in  his  answer  that  he  is  still  "far  from  being  perfect 

Consequently,"  he  says,  "I  desire  of  you,  my  brother,  whom  I  con- 
sider a  special  servant  of  God,  absolution  from  all  the  sins  I  com- 
mitted, for  over  my  sins  I  am  heartily  grieved."  He  also  writes 
in  this  letter  that  Luther's  intention  of  translating  the  Bible  gives 
him  great  joy. 

One  would  naturally  suppose  that  this  poor  exiled  knight  com- 
plained at  times  in  his  writings  about  the  injustice  done  to  him. 


Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse. 


But  not  a  word  of  complaint  or  expression  of  bitter  feeling  against 
his  enemies  do  we  find  in  all  that  he  wrote.  His  principle  was 
that  the  magistrates  should  be  obeyed,  even  if  they  are  unjust  in 
their  mandates  and  punishments,  except  in  matters  of  faith.  An 
acquaintance  of  his,  a  resident  of  Basel,  wrote  of  him  in  the  year 
1522,  "Here  is  also  that  thoroughly  noble  and  truly  Christian  man 
of  Kronberg;  I  have  never  seen  any  man  who  suffered  miserable 
wretchedness  with  greater  calmness.  Though  the  Count  Palatine 
robbed  him  of  all  his  possessions  and  banished  him — an  innocent 
man,  as  every  one  knows — yet  he  does  not  in  the  least  lament  his 
loss,  and  he  comforts  them  who  ought  to  comfort  him." 


In  the  begining  of  1523  Hartmut  came  to  Wittenberg  and  was 
most  cordially  received  by  Luther.  In  a  letter  to  Spalatin  Luther 
wrote,  "Hartmut  von  Kronberg  is  here;  that  man,  after  all  that 
he  suffered,  still  stands  remarkably  firm  in  his  faith." 

During  the  years  of  his  exile,  Hartmut  wandered  about  in  many 
countries  seeking  assistance  in  his  endeavors  to  regain  possession 
of  his  lost  estate.  For  a  while  he  stayed  in  Bohemia,  after  that 
in  Switzerland,  from  there  he  returned  to  Germany,  then  returned 
again  to  Switzerland,  choosing  the  city  of  Basel  for  his  home.  In- 
fluential friends  spoke  for  him  at  the  royal  courts,  but  in  vain. 
Philip  of  Hesse  did  not  let  go  of  what  he  had  taken.  Hartmut 
appealed  directly  to  the  emperor,  but  even  the  imperial  verdicts 
rendered  in  his  favor  were  in  vain.  Not  until  Hartmut  communi- 
cated with  the  landgrave  personally  did  he  see  any  prospects  of 
success,  but  even  then  he  had  to  wait  a  number  of  years  longer 
before  an  agreement  was  reached.  The  intervention  of  influential 
friends  finally  succeeded  in  inducing  the  landgrave  to  yield  to  their 
entreaties  in  Hartmut's  behalf  and  to  restore  to  him  his  property. 
This  was  in  1541,  nineteen  years  after  the  taking  of  Kronberg. 
Hartmut  was  never  reimbursed  for  the  loss  he  sustained  during 
the  long  period  of  privation  and  exile,  and  his  permanent  loss,  in 
money  alone,  amounted  to  30,000  golden  florins. 

The  last  years  of  Hartmut's  life  were  comparatively  quiet 
and  peaceful.  He  entered  into  his  rest  on  August  7th,  1549,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Castle  Church  at  Kronberg. 

"The  most  innocent  and  pious  of  knights"  is  what  Hutten  calls 
him  in  a  letter  written  in  his  defense,  and  it  was  not  saying  too 
much.  Even  among  the  large  number  of  zealous  and  fearless  wit- 
nesses who  rose  up  boldly  to  testify  their  faith,  Hartmut,  for  his 
piety  and  honesty  and  the  cleanness  of  his  morals,  occupies  a  place 
of  honor.  His  tombstone  shows  a  crucifix  and  the  kneeling  form 
of  the  knight  and  his  wife,  who  was  buried  at  his  side.  Over  Hart- 
mut's head,  on  a  square  plate,  the  following  inscription  could  for- 
merly be  read: 

Thou  Lamb  of  God,  that  took'st  away 
The  world's  sin,  on  the  cross, 
Through  Thy  death  all  believers  may 
Have  life,  regain   their  loss. 
Prom  this  source  all  my  hope  did  flow, 
While  yet  I  sojourned  here  below. 


W 


2.    Albrecht  Duerer,  Artist  and  Reformer. 

In  1471  a  son  was  born  to  Albrecht  Duerer,  a  goldsmith  of 
Nuremberg.  The  name  given  to  the  child  at  his  baptism  was 
Albrecht,  the  name  of  his  father.  Little  Albrecht  was  destined 
not  only  to  give  undying  fame  to  his  native  city,  but  also  to  adorn 
the  German  name  the  world  over,  with  his  magnificent  works  of 
art.  The  reason,  however,  why  we  are  here  mentioning  the  cele- 
brated painter  Albrecht  Duerer  is  not  simply  that  he  was  a 
contemporary  and  a  friend  of  Luther,  but  because  this  greatest 
of  German  artists  has  in  his  matchless  paintings  and  also  in  writ- 
ings shown  himself  a  brave  confessor  of  the  evangelical  truth  and 
a  faithful  adherent  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine.  He  is  one  of  those 
of  whom  Isaiah,  the  prophet,  speaks,  when  he  says  of  the  Messiah 
that  God  will  "divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great."  One  of  the 
great  men  that  bowed  their  knee  at  the  name  of  Jesus  was  Albrecht 
Duerer,  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  realm  of  art.  In  humble  faith 
he  laid  hold  on  the  sufferings  and  death  of  the  Savior  and  also 
bore  witness  of  his  faith  by  his  imperishable  pictures,  and  otherwise. 

Let  us  first  draw  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of  this  remarkable 
man.  He  received  his  first  instruction  in  the  art  of  painting  from 
his  father,  later  he  was  tutored  in  the  workshop  of  the  busy-  master 
Michel  Wolgemut.  After  he  had  become  an  artisan  in  painting 
and  very  proficient  in  engraving  and  woodcutting  as  well,  he  set 
out,  in  1490,  to  travel  about  the  country,  as  young  artisans  were 
wont  to  do  in  those  days.  He  visited  the  Netherlands,  Alsace,  and 
Switzerland.  After  his  return  to  Nuremberg  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Agnes  Frey.  Later  on,  he  sojourned  in  Italy, 
where  he  found  new  inspiration  and  suggestion  for  his  art  in  the 
masterpieces  of  the  great  Italian  painters.  He  received  orders  for 
pictures  from  Frederick  the  Wise,  and  he  also  furnished  paintings 
for  the  church  and  the  castle  at  Wittenberg.  Again  he  spent  sev- 
eral years  in  travel,  and  then  he  was  appointed  painter  to  the 
German  Emperor  at  the  imperial  court,  where  he  was  on  a  yearly 
salary.      In    1521    we   find   him   again   at   Nuremberg. 

As  early  as  1518  we  see  him  in  friendly  intercourse  with 
Luther,  whom  he  also  sent  a  present,  very  likely  some  engravings 
or  woodcuts,  for  which  Luther  in  a  letter  to  the  learned  Christoph 
Scheurl  expressed  his  thanks  with  the  following  words,  "I  received 
at  the  same  time  the  gift  of  that  excellent  man  Albrecht  Duerer. 
I  would  request  you  to  remember  me  to  the  good  man  and  to  tell 
him  how  gratefully  I  think  of  him."  . 

At  that  time  Luther's  writings  were  read  at  Nuremberg  with 
feverish  excitement;   in  fact,  tnis  city  was  one  of  the  first  in  which 


—  9   — 

the  doctrine  of  the  Wittenberg  Reformer  found  a  home.  Duerer, 
among  others,  as  we  see  from  a  letter  written  by  Luther's  friend 
Scheurl,  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  eager  adherents  of  Luther. 
Scheurl  wrote,  "Above  all  my  Albrecht  Duerer  requests  that  Luther's 
sermon  on  repentance  be  translated  for  him."  With  keen  interest 
the  artist  followed  up  the  course  of  events  after  Luther  had  broken 
away  from  the  Roman  church.  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise,  Luther's 
noble  friend,  sent  him  the  Reformer's  writings.  Duerer  wrote  in  a 
letter  to  Spalatin,  "I  beg  that  my  humble  thanks  be  transmitted  to 
the  elector,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  let  that  worthy  Martinus 


Albrecht  Duerer. 

Painted    by   his   own    hand    1J0O. 


Luther  be  commended  to  him  on  account  of  the  Christian  truth, 
which  is  of  greater  consequence  to  us  than  all  the  riches  and  power 
of  this  world,  for  that  perishes  in  time,  but  the  truth  abides  for- 
ever. And  if  with  God's  help  I  shall  come  to  Doctor  Martinus 
Luther,  I  will  carefully  make  a  portrait  of  him  and  engrave  it 
for  a  perpetual  remembrance  of  that  great  Christian  man.  who 
helped  me  out  of  great  distresses.  And  I  beg  your  honor,  if  Doctor 
Martinus  makes  something  new  that  is  German,  that  you  will  kindly 
send   it  to  me  for  my   money." 

In    Antwerp,    on    the    17th    of    .May.     l.'iL'l,    Duerer    received    the 
shocking  news  from  Worms  that    Luther  had   been  seized  near   Eise- 


—  10  — 

nach  on  his  way  home  from  the  Diet,  and  that  no  trace  had  been 
found  of  him  since.  Neither  Duerer  nor  the  rest  of  the  German 
people  had  any  idea  that  Luther  was  safe  at  the  Wartburg.  Duerer 
wrote  the  following  remarkable  words  into  his  diary,  "On  Friday 
before  Pentecost  the  news  reached  Antwerp  that  Martin  Luther 
had  been  treacherously  captured.  At  a  deserted  place  near  Eise- 
nach ten  horsemen  traitorously  took  him  away,  the  betrayed  and 
pious  man,  enlightened  with  the  Holy  Gost.  And  is  he  still  alive, 
or  did  they  murder  him?  I  do  not  know.  In  either  case  he  suffered 
for  the  Christian  truth,  because  he  upbraided  the  unchristian  papacy. 
My  greatest  fear  is  that  God  might  let  us  remain  still  longer  under 


View  of  Nuremberg'  in  the  Age  of  the  Reformation. 

Copper  Engraving  l>y  Albrecht  Duerer, 


their  false,  blind  doctrine,  which  was  invented  and  set  up  by  men 
whom  they  call  fathers,  and  through  which  the  precious  Word  of 
God  is  falsely  interpreted  in  many  places,  or  not  preached  at  all. 

"O  God  in  heaven,  have  mercy  on  us.  O  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
pray  for  Thy  people,  deliver  us  in  due  time,  preserve  unto  us  the 
true,  right,  Christian  faith.  Gather  Thy  scattered  sheep  with  Thy 
voice,  Thy  divine  Word  in  Scripture.  Help  us  to  know  Thy  voice 
and  keep  us  from  following  human  error,  so  that  we,  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  may  never  depart  from  Thee.  Call  together  the  sheep  of 
Thy  pasture,  some  of  whom  are  still  in  the  Roman  church.  O  God. 
deliver  Thy  poor  people,  who  by  a  heavy  ban  are  being  oppressed. 
O  Thou  most  high  Heavenly  Father,  through  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ, 


—  11  — 

pour  into  our  hearts  such  light,  as  will  enable  us  to  see  which 
messenger  we  should  hold  to,  so  that  we  may  serve  Thee,  eternal 
Heavenly  Father,  with  cheerful  hearts. 

"And  if  so  be  that  we  lost  this  man  (Luther),  we  pray  Thee, 
O  Heavenly  Father,  that  Thou  wouldest  again  give  Thy  Holy  Spirit 
to  one  who  will  gather  again  Thy  holy  Christian  Church  every- 
where, and  through  whose  work  all  unbelievers  will  adopt  the 
Christian  faith  .... 

"O  God,  if  Luther  is  dead,  who  will  henceforth  teach  us  the 
holy  Gospel  so  clearly?  Alas,  O  God,  what  might  he  yet  have 
written   for  us  in  ten,   twenty  years. 


St.  Jerome  in  His  Study. 

Copper  Engraving  by  Duerer,  1514. 


The  Suffering  Redeemer 

Engraving  liy  Ducrer. 


"O  ye  good  Christian  people,  one  and  all,  weep  with  me  for 
this  inspired  man  of  God,  and  pray  with  me  that  God  would  send 
us  another  enlightened  man.  O  ye  Christian  people,  ask  God  to 
help,  for  His  judgement  is  drawing  near,  and  His  righteousness 
will  be  revealed." 

What  ardent  love  for  the  great  Reformer  these  words  express! 
What  a  clear  understanding  of  the  vital  importance  of  Luther's 
work  they  reveal!  Imagine  the  exultant  joy  that  filled  Duerer's 
heart  when  he  heard  that  his  excellent  friend,  whom  he  had 
mourned  for  dead,  was  again  at  work  in  Wittenberg! 

How  bravely  Germany's  greatest  painter  bore  witness  of  his 
faith   in   later  years  is  seen  from  a  letter  which   he   wrote   in    1524 


—   12  — 

to  a  friend  at  Antwerp,  in  which  he  says:  "On  account  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  we  must  bear  shame  and  danger;  we  are  called  heretics. 
God  grant  us  grace  and  strengthen  us  in  His  Word,  for  we  must 
obey  God  rather  than  men.  It.  were  better  for  us  to  lose  our  life 
and  property,  than  to  be  cast  of  God,  body  and  soul,  into  hell-fire. 
May    God    enlighten    our   adversaries,     the     poor,     miserable,     blind 

people,  that  they  may  not  perish  in  their  error They  have 

planned  many  wicked  devices,  but  God's  will  alone  will  be  done." 
The  man  who  wrote  these  lines  evidently  knew  from  experience 
what   it  was  to  suffer  persecution. 

To  say  much  about  Albrecht  Duerer's  wonderful  art  would 
require  considerably  more  space  than  we  can  here  occupy.  He 
painted  an  enormous  number  of  pictures,  representing  a  great  va- 
riety of  subjects,  and  expressing  a  wide  diversity  of  ideas.  His 
paintings  are  to  be  seen  in  the  great  art  galleries  throughout  Europe. 
As  Luther  wrote  and  sang,  Duerer  drew  and  painted.  His  pictures 
show  us  emperors  and  beggars,  civilians  and  soldiers,  cities  and 
villages,  taverns,  castles,  etc.  We  are  particularly  interested  in 
his  religious  paintings.  When  he  was  only  twenty-seven  years  old, 
he  painted  scenes  from  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  in  which  he 
delivered  a  powerful  sermon  of  Christ,  the  true  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  His  victory  over  Antichrist.  That  was  in  the  year  1498,  when 
Luther  still  sang  at  people's  doors  in  Eisenach.  The  pictures  passed 
from  one  to  another  and  served  as  silent  forerunners  of  the  Re- 
formation. 

None  but  a  true  Christian  could  paint  as  Albrecht  Duerer  did. 
His  grandest  masterpieces  are  fruits  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation. 
He  made  many  pictures  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  he  did  not  portray 
her  as  "the  most  blessed  Queen  of  heaven"  but  as  the  humble 
handmaid  of  whom  Luther  says,  "She  seeks  no  glory  and  honor, 
does  not  vaunt  herself  for  having  become  the  mother  of  God,  but 
remained  a  poor  citizen  among  the  common  people."  All  pictures 
of  the  saints  show  them  in  their  true  character,  not  as  transfigured 
heavenly  forms,  such  as  Roman  superstition  adores,  but  as  plain 
friends  and  associates  of  all  believers;  the  Apostles,  as  a  rule,  are 
shown  with  the  tokens  of  their  humble  birth.  Some  of  his  pictures 
of  the  Apostles  express  truths  taught  by  Luther  in  those  days  of 
the  Reformation.  One  of  these  is  his  great  masterpiece,  "Kirchen- 
stiitzen"  (Church-Supports),  now  to  be  seen  in  the  art  gallery  of 
Munich.  It  consists  of  two  double  pictures,  the  one  showing  John 
and  Peter,  the  other  Paul  and  Mark,  in  life-size.  It  is  significant 
that  John  and  Paul  stand  in  the  foreground,  and  Peter  and  Mark 
in  the  background.  Peter  appears  as  a  learner,  of  less  significance 
than  John,  and  showing  his  keys  only  from  a  distance.  But  John, 
with  sublime  devotion  in  his  features,  is  reading  in  the  Scriptures, 
as  if  he  lay  on  the  Savior's  breast  and  drank  in  the  words  which 
the  Savior  spoke,  and  which  Peter  barely  understood.  The  other 
picture  shows  Paul,  a  valiant  warrior,  with  the  sword  of  martyr- 
dom,  a   knight  defying   death   and   the   devil,   not   looking   into   the 


—   13  — 

world,  like  Mark,  but  of  pensive  mind,  filled  with  determination, 
the  teacher  of  the  Gentiles,  every  inch  a  man.  The  painting  is  a 
noble    Protestant   confession,    and    it   was   made   shortly    before    the 


Sts.  John  and  Peter. 


>ls.  Mark  and   Paul. 


good  Confession  at  Augsburg,  which  still  resounds  through  the 
world  to-day,  was  voiced  forth.  Words  of  admonishment  to  stick 
to  Clod's  Word,  and  of  warning  against  falling  away  and  hearkening 
to  false  prophets   were   formerly  written   under  these  paintings,   but 


—  14  — 

have  been  abolished.  These  men  speak  without  words.  But  through 
them  and  in  them  speaks  Albrecht  Duerer  to  the  evangelical  Chris- 
tian people  until  this  day.  The  Scripture  passages  affixed  to  these 
pictures  by  Duerer  himself  (2  Pet.  2,  1-3.  1  John  4,  1-3.  2  Tim.  3, 
1-7.  Mark  12,  38-40)  were  directed  against  the  Roman  Church. 

The  loftiest  height  of  Duerer's  art  and  the  sublimest  expression 
of  his  faith  is  seen  in  his  pictures  of  the  suffering  of  Christ.  Duerer 
is,  above  all,  a  painter  of  Passion  pictures.  When  he  was  still  a 
goldsmith's  apprentice  in  his  father's  workshops,  he  made  a  beauti- 
ful picture  in  gold  representing  seven  phases  of  the  sufferings  of 


The  Holy  Family. 


Christ.  And  ever  after,  he  dedicates  his  art  to  the  glory  of  his 
Savior.  The  suffering  of  Christ  was  the  beginning  and  the  ending 
of  all  his  work.  Not  in  heavenly  beauty  and  repose,  but  as  the 
Man  of  Sorrows,  the  Savior  is  depicted  to  us  in  most  of  the  pictures 
of  Christ  painted  by  Duerer.  It  has  been  well  said  that  the  picture 
of  Christ,  which  Luther  bore  in  his  heart,  was  the  suffering  Christ 
of  Duerer. 

Duerer  was  recognized  and  honored  as  a  great  painter  during 
his  lifetime  and  through  the  centuries  since.  Venetian  merchants 
ordered  a  painting  from  him  for  their  church.  When  Emperor 
Rudolph  II  heard  of  the  purchase,  he  bought  the  picture  from  the 


—  15  — 

church  and  had  it  carried  by  four  strong  men  over  the  Alps  to 
Germany.  Raphael  sent  him  a  portrait  of  himself  and  a  book  of 
beautiful  drawings.  "This  German,"  said  Raphael,  "would  have 
surpassed  us  all,  if  the  models  of  antiquity  had  been  before  his 
eyes,"  that  is,  if  he  had  studied  in  Italy.  His  travels  in  Germany 
were  a  triumphal  procession  from  city  to  city.  Banquets  were 
everywhere  given  in  his  honor,  and  his  fame  was  sung  in  poems. 
But  Duerer,  a  truly  great  man,  remained  a  humble  Christian  in 
spite  of  the  glistening  honors  of  the  world.  Neither  the  flattery 
of  the  great  nor  the  shining  coin  of  the  rich  could  estrange  his 
heart  from  the  Christian  faith.  Shortly  before  his  death,  in  the 
year  1528,  he  wrote  the  following  prayer,  "God  grant  me  a  blessed 
end,  and  may  God  come  at  my  end  and  give  me  eternal  life." 

Among  those  who  spoke  words  of  eulogy  after  Duerer's  death 
were  the  two  great  friends  at  Wittenberg.  Melanchthon,  who  for 
a  while  refused  to  believe  the  report  of  his  death,  wrote,  "It  grieves 
me  to  see  Germany  deprived  of  such  an  artist,  of  such  a  man."  And 
Luther  expressed  his  feelings  in  a  letter  as  follows:  "As  regards 
Duerer,  it  behooves  the  pious  to  mourn  that  good  man.  But  you 
may  call  him  blessed,  since  Christ  has  so  enlightened  him  and 
with  a  blessed  end  has  taken  him  out  of  these  turbulent  times, 
which  will  probably  become  yet  more  turbulent,  so  that  he,  who 
was  worthy  of  seeing  only  the  best,  will  not  be  compelled  to  see 
the  very  worst.     May  he  rest  in  peace  with  his  fathers.    Amen." 


3.    Leonard  Kaiser,  A  Bavarian  Martyr  of 
the  Lutheran  Faith. 

Leonard  Kaiser  was  born  in  Bavaria  about  the  year  14  80, 
near  the  time  of  Luther's  birth.  He  studied  at  the  University  of 
Leipzig,  and  at  the  age  of  forty  he  was  viear  for  the  priest  in 
Weitzenkirchen,   upper  Austria. 

This  particular  part  of  Austria  had  been  mightily  affected  by 
the  "new  doctrine."  Not  only  the  peasant  folk,  but  also  people  of 
the  large  cities  had  flocked  to  the  Gospel,  and  among  them  many 
of  the  nobility.  Lutheran  preachers  were  appointed  throughout 
that  part  of  the  country  in  castles  and  in  residences  of  the  aristo- 
cracy. Leonard  Kaiser  soon  became  known  as  a  representative  of 
the  "new  doctrine."  His  preaching  was  made  all  the  more  im- 
pressive by  the  blameless    life   he   led. 

But  also  in  this  remote  corner  of  Europe  enmity  of  the  pope's 
men  against  the  adherents  of  Luther  arose.  The  measures  em- 
ployed by  the  bishop  against  the  spreading  "Lutheranism"  became 
more  severe  from  year  to  year,  and  soon  his  wrath  was  directed 
against  Kaiser  as  the  chief  rock  of  offense.  Kaiser  was  publicly 
charged  with  being  a  Lutheran  and  called  upon  to  give  account 
of  himself  before  a  consistory  at  Passau.  At  this  time  Kaiser  was 
not  yet  firmly  grounded  in  the  truth  of  Scripture  and  was  induced 
to  promise  that  he  would  renounce  Luther's  doctrine,  books,  and 
associates.  He  was  then  released  from  prison  and  returned  to 
his  post. 

Kaiser's  conscience  was  not  at  rest.  Whenever  he  read  mass, 
administered  the  Roman  sacraments,  heard  confession,  etc.,  a  voice 
within  him  told  him  all  too  plainly  that  he  was  doing  wrong;  he 
had  too  clearly  recognized  the  superstition  connected  with  those 
ceremonies  and  the  idolatry  of  the  worship  of  the  Virgin.  He  be- 
came more  and  more  convinced  that  in  his  heart  he  was  already 
estranged  from  popery.  At  last  he  left  his  parents  and  friends  and 
went  to  Wittenberg  to  see  and  hear  that  monk  Luther,  whom  so 
many  praised  and  many  others  hated.  He  went  there  in  order  to 
get  enlightenment  and,  if  possible,  find  rest  unto  his  conscience. 

On  June  7th,  1525,  a  few  days  before  Luther's  marriage,  Kaiser 
was  matriculated  in  the  University  of  Wittenberg.  He  remained 
there  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  became  well  acquainted  with  Luther. 
The  two  men  loved  and  honored  each  other,  and  they  were  sorry 
to  part  when  Kaiser  was  called  to  the  bedside  of  his  dying  father. 

Kaiser  was  well  aware  of  the  danger  connected  with  his  return 
home.     He  had  not  kept  his  promise  to  renounce  Lutheranism;   on 


—  17  — 

the  contrary,  he  had  become  more  closely  attached  to  Luther  and 
had  studied  the  forbidden  books  very  thoroughly.  It  was  com- 
forting, however,  for  him  to  know  that  no  one  had  ever  lost  his 
life  in  Bavaria  on  account  of  the  Lutheran  faith.  Besides,  he  felt 
that  duty  called  him,  and  so  he  left  Wittenberg,  and  arrived  home 
a  few  hours  before  his  father  died. 

During  the  time  of  Kaiser's  sojourn  in  Wittenberg,  sentiment 
in  Bavaria  had  turned  somewhat  against  the  Reformation.  After 
the  Diet  at  Worms  it  was  evident  that  Luther  did  not  strive  to 
bring  about  only  an  outward  betterment  of  the  Christian  people, 
but  that  his  work  meant  the  destruction  of  popery.  It  was  feared 
that  a  split  in  the  church  and  in  the  nation  would  result  from  the 


Luther  ['reaching  In  the  City  Church  at  Wittenberg. 

Altar  Painting  by  the  elder  Cranach.     (Luther's  wife  and  child  in  foreground,  i 


spread  of  Luther*s  teachings,  and  even  those  whose  sentiments 
were  with  Luther  in  his  fight  against  the  abomination  of  the  papal 
court  and  the  immorality  of  the  clergy,  no  longer  supported  the 
movement  when  they  saw  that  it  would  lead  to  serious  and  possib 
dangerous  dissension  among  the  people.  The  pope  and  the  emperor 
had  condemned  Luther's  doctrine,  and  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
adopt  severe  measures  against  the  adherents  of  those  teachings.  No 
blood  was  shed  yet  for  a  while.  Those  suspected  of  heresy  were 
compelled  to  leave  the  country  and  were  not  permitted  to  take  any 
of  their  belongings  with  them  ;  these  were  confiscated  by  the  duke. 
A  great  number  of  poor  people  left  their  homes  and  went,  some 
here,  and  some  there,  to  Augsburg,  Austria,  Switzerland,  Saxony. 
Many  of  the  exiled  preachers  went  to  Wittenberg  to  attend  the 
university  and  become  more  familiar  with  the  Evangelical  doctrine, 
which    they   intended    to    preach    in   other    parts   of   Germany.      Such 


—  18  — 

was  the  state  of  affairs,  when  Leonard  Kaiser  returned  to  his  home 
in  Bavaria. 

The  strenuous  journey  and  the  excitement  at  the  death  of  his 
father  had  so  affected  him  that  he  lay  at  home  sick  abed  for  five 
weeks.  When  he  had  recovered,  he  did  not  take  a  stand  publicly 
against  popery,  but  he  corresponded  with  his  friends  at  Wittenberg 
and  had  the  writings  of  Luther  and  other  men  sent  to  him.  This 
could  not  remain  a  secret.  He  was  reported  as  a  heretic,  and  on 
the  10th  of  March,  1527,  he  was  arrested  and  delivered  to  the 
authorities.  On  the  following  day  he  was  committed  to  severe  im- 
prisonment at  Passau,  in  the  castle  of  Oberhaus,  on  a  high  cliff  over- 
looking the  Danube. 

Kaiser  was  not  despondent  over  his  painful  experience ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  rejoiced  to  know  that  he  was  suffering  for  his  faith. 
As  a  prisoner  of  the  Lord  he  immediately  wrote  to  a  friend:  "Rejoice 
with  me,  for  the  Father  of  mercy  and  the  God  of  all  comfort  has 
counted  me,  his  unworthy  servant  and  great  sinner,  worthy  of  the 
happy  privilege  to  confess  His  holy,  sweet,  and  blessed  name  before 
the  wicked  world.     Praise  be  unto  Him  forever.    Amen." 

About  the  middle  of  May  he  was  summoned  for  a  hearing. 
Before  the  clergy  of  the  Passau  cathedral  he  was  asked  what  he 
thought  of  the  pope's  authority,  of  the  mass,  the  marriage  of  priests, 
purgatory,  saint-worship,  and  above  all,  whether  he  taught  that  a 
sinner  is  justified  by  faith,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law.  His  ans- 
wers were  met  with  harsh  replies  by  his  tormentors.  They  gave 
him  no  chance  to  make  a  full  statement  of  his  case,  and  finally 
condemned  him  as  "a  man  astray  and  erring  widely  from  salvation 
and  divine  truth."  His  statements,  of  course,  agreed  in  every  point 
with  Luther's  doctrine.  Finally  he  replied  to  a  question  with  these 
bold  words,  "I  do  not  believe  that  Germany  ever  had  the  Gospel, 
nor  heard  it  right."  Then  they  led  him  back  to  his  wretched  dun- 
geon, which  was  very  filthy  and  overrun  with  mice  and  other  vermin. 

About  this  time  Luther  was  informed  of  the  perilous  plight  of 
his  friend  and  scholar.  He  at  once,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1527,  sent 
Kaiser  a  very  consoling  letter,  which  read  as  follows: 

"To  my  worthy  and  dear  brother  in  Christ,  the  faithful  and 
well  beloved  servant  and  prisoner  of  Christ,  Leonard  Kaiser. 

"Grace,  strength,  and  peace  in  Christ.  That  your  old  man,  dear 
Mr.  Leonard,  is  in  captivity  is  the  will  and  calling  of  Christ,  your 
Savior,  who  gave  Himself  also  for  you  and  your  sin  into  the  hands 
of  the  ungodly,  to  redeem  you  with  His  blood  and  to  make  you 
His  brother  and  an  heir  of  eternal  life. 

"We  feel  sorry  for  you  and  diligently  pray  that  you  may  be 
released,  not  only  for  your  sake,  but  that  you  might  be  of  service 
to  many,  unto  the  glory  of  God,  if  it  be  His  will.  But  if  it  be 
God's  will  that  you  should  not  be  released,  you  are  nevertheless 
free  and  secure  in  spirit.  Only  see  that  you  are  strong  and  that 
you  steadfastly  overcome  the  weakness  of  the  flesh,  or  bear  it  pa- 


—  19  — 

tiently  through  the  power  of  Christ,  who  is  with  you  in  the  dungeon 
and  will  be  with  you  in  every  trouble,  as  He  has  very  kindly  and 
faithfully  promised  in  the  91st  Psalm,  'I  will  be  with  him  in  trouble.' 
Therefore  you  must  cry  unto  Him  in  prayer  with  full  confidence 
and  refresh  and  support  yourself  with  comforting  psalms  in  this 
furious  wrath  of  Satan,  that  you  may  be  strengthened  in  the  Lord 
and  not  speak  too  leniently  and  softly  against  the  teeth  of  behemoth 
as  if  you  were  overcome  and  feared  his  haughtiness.  Call  diligently 
upon  Christ,  who  is  everywhere  present  and  mighty,  and  defy  Satan 
and  mock  at  his  fury  and  arrogance.  For  you  are  sure  that  he 
can  not  harm  you;  the  more  he  rages,  the  less  he  can  hurt  you. 
St.  Paul  says   Rom.   8,  'If  God  be  for  us,  who  can   be  against  us,' 


Luther's  Living  Room. 

From  a  Photograph. 


and  Ps.  8,  'Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet.'  He  can  and 
will  help  all  who  are  tempted,  for  He  was  in  all  points  tempted 
like  as  we  are. 

"So  then,  my  dearly  beloved  brother,  be  strong  in  the  Lord, 
and  be  of  good  comfort  in  His  mighty  power,  that  you  may  know, 
bear,  love,  and  praise  with  a  willing  heart  the  fatherly  will  of  God, 
whether  your  life  be  spared  or  not.  May  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  grant  you  to  do  all  this  with  a  willing  heart  to  the 
glory  of  His  holy  Gospel,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glorious 
grace,  who  is  a  Father  of  mercy  and  a  God  of  all  comfort.  Amen. 
In  Him  may  it  be  well  with  you,  and  pray  also  for  us." 

"Wittenberg,  on   Monday  after   Cantate,    1527. 

"MARTIN  LUTHER." 


—  20  — 

There  were  also  other  friends  who  comforted  Kaiser  in  prison. 
It  was  a  special  treat  for  him  when  he  had  an  opportunity  to  con- 
verse at  night  through  the  window  with  this  or  that  friend,  and 
thus  to  receive  comfort,  instruction,  greetings,  and  encouragement 
from  without.  Luther  had  appealed  to  Elector  John  of  Saxony  in 
behalf  of  the  Bavarian  confessor.  The  elector  conferred  with  the 
bishop  of  Passau  in  a  warm  petition,  and  many  others  appealed  for 
the  prisoner,  but  all  with  no  avail.  Perhaps  the  petitions  of  these 
"heretics"  moved  the  bishop  to  even  greater  severity.  At  any  rate, 
one  hearing  followed  another,  back  to  prison  and  out  again  for 
yet  another  trial,  so  it  went  on  until  he  was  almost  out  of  his  head. 
But  he  remained  firm  and  would  permit  neither  good  nor  evil  to 
cause  him  to  depart  from  Scripture  or  to  deny  the  truth. 

At  last  the  day  for  the  trial  was  set.  On  July  18th  he  was 
to  receive  sentence.  The  day  before,  the  much  dreaded  Dr.  Eck 
came  personally  to  him  as  the  bishop's  messenger  and  made  a  last 
effort  to  induce  him  to  recant  his  doctrine.  The  interview  led  to 
a  dispute,  which,  of  course,  led  to  no  agreement,  since  Kaiser  based 
himself  solely  upon  Holy  Scripture,  while  the  Roman  theologian 
argued  on  the  basis  of  the  popish  claims.  After  another  night  in 
the  stuffy  dungeon,  Kaiser  was  shackled  to  another  prisoner,  one 
of  the  clergy,  who  had  committed  theft  and  murder,  and  so  he  was 
led  away. 

On  the  way  to  the  place  of  the  final  trial,  Kaiser's  fellow- 
prisoner  cursed  the  bishop  horribly  and  called  him  a  tyrant  and 
a  bloodhound.  "I  am  not  worthy  of  walking  with  you,"  he  said  to 
Kaiser,  "for  you  are  an  innocent  man;  but  I  am  guilty  of  death 
and  shall  get  what  I  deserve."  Kaiser  only  cautioned  him  to  be 
calm.  When  the  procession  passed  the  house  of  his  aunt,  she  came 
out  and  embraced  him  weeping,  and  when  he  was  led  across  the 
marketplace,  his  many  friends  approached  him  and  comforted  him. 
Yet  not  one  of  them  desired  that  he  should  depart  from  the  truth. 

At  last  the  prisoner  entered  the  "Pfaffenhof"  (preachers'  court) 
in  front  of  the  house  of  the  cathedral  clergy.  In  the  open  air,  as 
was  customary  in  those  days,  the  bar  of  justice  was  erected.  A  great 
number  of  armed  bishops  and  townsmen  whom  the  bishop  had  sum- 
moned surrounded  the  inclosure.  The  bishop  himself  presided  as 
judge.  Fifteen  clergymen  of  Passau  and  vicinity,  all  of  them  strong 
papists,  constituted  the  court.  The  entire  court,  the  judge  at  the 
head,  were  not  only  prejudiced  against  Kaiser,  but  it  was  a  fore- 
gone conclusion  with  them  that  he  was  guilty.  Before  he  had 
been  given  a  chance  to  say  one  word,  he  was  looked  upon  as  a 
criminal  worthy  of  death.  The  proceedings  commenced.  An  officer 
announced  that  a  captured  Lutheran  priest  had  been  brought  for 
trial,  and  in  reply  to  the  officer's  question  whether  the  man  should 
now  be  presented  at  the  prisoners'  bar,  the  bishop  gave  order  that 
he  be  brought  in.  When  Kaiser  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  court, 
his  shackles  were  removed,  and  the  announcement  was  made  that 


—  21   — 

the  bishop  was  compelled  to  summon  Kaiser  before  his  tribunal, 
because  he  had  given  the  pope  his  oath  that  he  would  extirpate 
the  "heretical  sect."  The  prisoner  was  now  informed  that  if  he 
would  recant  his  doctrine,  the  bishop  would  show  mercy  and  give 
him  a  last  chance  to  save  his  life.  But  Kaiser  remained  firm  to 
the  last.  He  insisted  that  he  could  not  recant  what  is  taught  in 
Holy  Scripture.  In  this  hearing  he  is  said  to  have  shown  so  much 
understanding  and  such  a  familiarity  with  Holy  Scripture  that  his 
listeners  were  amazed,  and  a  stir  was  caused  among  them  by  his 
frank  and  bold  confession  of  the  truth  before  God  and  man.      But 


Vera  Imago 

TltLOLOOlM. 


Iohanni5    Ecxu 

ATAT15-* 
XLIU  . 


.John  Eck 


what  good  did  it  do  him?  At  the  close  of  the  discussion  the  bishop 
read  the  verdict  that  Kaiser  was  to  be  degraded  and  delivered  to 
the  worldly  judge. 

The  verdict  was  promptly  carried  out.  First  the  "degradation" 
was  enacted.  The.  official  garb  worn  by  the  priest  at  mass  was  put 
on  Kaiser  and  then  taken  off  from  him  piece  by  piece  amid  the 
curses  of  his  accusers.  Now  he  was  made  to  wear  an  old  coat, 
and  a  slashed  black  cap,  the  "heretics*  cap,"  was  put  on  him.  In 
such  array  he  was  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities,  and  with 
hini  the  malefactor  and  murderer,  who  had  also  received  his  sen- 
tence.      Does    not    this    remind    us    how    our    Favior    was    numbered 


—  22  — 

among  the  transgressors  when  he  hung  on  the  cross  between  two 
criminals?  "The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  lord.  If  they  have 
persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute  you."  '"Whosoever  killeth 
you  will  think  that  he  doeth  God  service." 

So  Kaiser  was  transferred  to  the  "wordly  arm,"  through  which 
the  Roman  church  was  wont  to  execute  judgement.  It  was  Duke 
William  of  Bavaria  by  whom  Kaiser's  case  was  finally  disposed  of, 
since  he  had  been  born  and  taken  captive  in  that  ruler's  realm. 
Executions  of  heretics  had  become  so  numerous  in  Bavaria,  that  to 
sign  death  warrants  was  almost  a  part  of  the  daily  routine  work 
of  the  duke.  Without  trying  Kaiser's  case  at  all,  the  duke  con- 
demned him  as  one  who  had  shown  an  unusual  degree  of  hardness, 
and  sentenced  him  to  be  burned  at  the  stake.  The  bishop  had 
declared  him  to  be  a  heretic,  and  that  settled  the  matter  for  the 
duke. 

On  August  11th  the  prisoner  was  taken  from  Oberhaus  to 
Schaerding.  His  hands  were  bound,  and  he  was  set  on  a  horse, 
to  which  he  was  fastened  with  chains.  So  the  procession  went 
through  the  city  of  Passau.  "He  was  calm  and  unafraid,"  says  an 
eyewitness,  "and  he  greeted  all  the  people.  At  the  city's  gate  his 
friends  took  leave  from  him  and  begged  him  publicly  not  to  depart 
from  the  truth  in  life  or  death."  On  the  way  to  Schaerding  he 
repeatedly  removed  the  black  hat  with  his  loosely  fettered  hand, 
greeting  acquaintances  who  rushed  into  the  street,  or  followed  him 
with  sympathetic  looks  from   the  windows. 

Shortly  after  Kaiser's  arrival  at  Schaerding  his  friends  came 
to  his  room  to  prepare  him  for  the  end.  "Mr.  Leonard,  you  must 
burn,"  they  said.  They  informed  him  that  the  executioner  of  Burg- 
hausen  had  already  been  called.  "A  different  bit  of  news  had  been 
better,"  was  his  reply,  "but,"  said  he,  "God's  will  be  done."  Soon 
after  the  arrival  of  the  executioner  the  justice  of  the  town  appeared 
in  his  cell  and  apprised  him  of  the  way  he  was  soon  to  go.  Kaiser 
then  made  a  testament  in  which  he  admonished  his  relatives  to  be 
of  one  mind,  to  love  each  other,  and  to  be  charitable  to  the  poor. 
He  advised  his  relatives,  that  in  case  the  raging  against  the  Lutheran 
people  would  continue,  they  should  rather  emigrate  and  settle 
where  "the  Word  of  God  is  preached  in  purity."  He  was  far  from 
wishing  that  anything  should  be  done  to  avenge  him.  He  expressly 
admonished  his  relatives  to  obey  the  magistrates.  Every  single  point 
in  this  testament  is  a  splendid  testimony  of  Kaiser*s  noble  and 
truly  Christian  spirit. 

It  was  on  Friday,  the  16th  of  August,  the  day  after  the  brilliant 
celebration  of  Ascension  day.  The  officers  rode  up  to  the  court- 
house and  the  two  executioners  and  their  servants  entered  the 
building.  The  executioners  asked  "What  is  your  name?"  Answer, 
"My  name  is  Leonard."  The  executioner  said,  "I  can  not  tell  you 
much  and  teach  you,  you  know  how  to  conduct  yourself;  I  must 
carry  out  the  command  of  my  sovereign."     Leonard  'replied,  "Dear 


—  23  — 

friend,  I  do  not  need  your  instruction,  do  what  you  are  commanded 
to  do,"  and  saying  these  words  he  stretched  forth  his  hands,  which 
they  bound  securely,  and  so  they  led  him  away.  "But  what  shall 
I  write,"  says  an  eyewitness,  "I  have  never  seen  such  earnestness 
and  fervency  in  any  man.  He  lifted  his  face  high,  raised  his  breast, 
and  his  mouth  spoke  psalms  in  Latin  so  rapidly  that  the  words 
almost  touched  each  others'  heels. 

When  he  saw  the  multitude  encircling  the  place  of  execution 
he  exclaimed,  "There  is  the  harvest,  and  the  harvesters  are  needed. 
Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  laborers 
into  His  harvest."  He  pitied  the  people  who  in  their  spiritual  dark- 
ness had  come  to  see  an  accursed  heretic  die.  Standing  very  erect 
he  looked  round  about  him,  and  his  last  words  before  he  approached 
the  pyre  were  words  of  forgiveness.  First  of  all  he  forgave  those 
who  had  brought  him  here,  and  prayed  that  God  would  likewise 
forgive  him.  Then  he  besought  the  people  to  help  him  pray  for 
his  enemies.  He  asked  to  be  forgiven  if  by  his  talk  and  example 
(when  formerly  he  did  not  preach  right,  sitting  in  the  darkness  of 
popery)  he  had  offended  anybody.  Finally  he  exhorted  those  present 
to  pray  for  him  that  he  might  die  in  a  firm  Christian  faith,  and 
he  prayed  for  those  "who  were  not  yet  enlightened." 

The  judge  did  not  allow  him  to  say  any  more  but  called  to 
the  executioner,  "Put  an  end  to  it,  you  know  what  you  are  com: 
manded  to  do."  Kaiser  rapidly  took  off  his  upper  garment,  ascended 
the  pyre,  and  lay  down  in  a  hollow.  While  he  was  being  tied  to  the 
stake  he  requested  the  people  to  sing,  "Come,  Holy  Spirit,"  at  the 
lighting  of  the  fire.  And  so  it  was  done;  when  the  flames  shot  up, 
the  multitude  standing  about,  shocked  by  the  heartrending  sight, 
began  to  sing.  Out  of  the  flame  the  burning  man,  his  voice  half 
smothered  with  smoke,  was  heard,  saying,  "Jesus,  I  am  Thine, 
save  me." 

So  Kaiser  died;  one  of  the  noblest  martyrs  of  the  Reformation. 
His  ashes  was  partly  taken  by  friends  for  remembrance,  partly 
thrown  into  the  River  Inn,  partly  scattered  by  the  wind.  The  fame 
of  his  glorious  death  spread  far  and  wide  into  the  remotest  corners 
of  Germany,  and  still  spreads  to-day. 

Through  a  friend  of  Kaiser's  Michael  Stifel,  Luther  was  notified 
of  the  circumstances  that  attended  the  last  hours  and  the  death 
of  the  blessed  martyr,  and  on  the  8th  of  October,  1527,  Luther  wrote 
to  Stifel  as  follows: 

"Grace  and  peace  in  Christ.  I  have  received  the  record  of  the 
sainted  man,  Mr.  Leonard  Kaiser,  written  by  you.  O  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  altogether  unlike  Mr.  Leonard.  I  do  no  more  than  teach 
and  preach  the  Word  and  speak  and  write  of  it  with  many  words; 
but  he  has  proven  himself  a  true  and  mighty  doer  of  that  Word. 
O  that  God  could  count  me  worthy  that  not  a  double  but  only  a 
half  portion  of  Leonard's  spirit  be  upon  me,  that  I  might  overcome 
Satan,  I  would  then  willingly  yield  up  this  life.      Praise  be  to  God 


—  24  — 

who  has  granted  us  unworthy  ones  to  see  amidst  monsters  such 
glorious  sight  and  splendor  of  his  grace  in  this  blessed  man.  so 
that  we  might  know  that  He  has  by  no  means  forsaken  us.  Christ, 
our  dear  Lord,  grant  that  we  may  become  followers  of  this  blessed 
Leonard.  He  is  entitled  to  be  called  'Kaiser'  and  bear  such  name 
with  honor,  for  he  has  overcome  him  whose  power  is  so  great, 
that  no  power  on  earth  can  be  compared  with  his.  Besides,  he  is 
not  only  a  priest  but  a  real  bishop,  for  he  gave  his  own  body  as 
a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  well-pleasing  to  God.  He  also  deserves 
the  name  "Leonhardt"*,  which  is  Lionheart,  for  he  has  shown  him- 
self as  a  strong  and  fearless  lion.  Both  his  names  were  foreordained 
of  God,  and  he  is  the  first  who  has  fulfilled  and  confirmed  the  name 
of  his  family.'' 


T8T 


*)  The  German  spelling  of  the  name  Leonard. 


4.    Argula  of  Grumbach,  "The  German  Deborah 
of  the  Reformation." 

Leonard  Kaiser  was  not  the  only  victim  of  the  persecution 
which  Duke  William  brought  upon  Bavaria.  Many  were  compelled, 
even  after  they  had  recanted,  to  leave  their  homes  and  roam  as 
exiles  in  a  strange  land,  and  whoever  would  not  recant,  was  deliv- 
ered to  the  executioner.  In  Munich  alone  twenty-nine  were  exe- 
cuted at  one  time,  and  sixteen  at  Landsberg,  because  they  had 
spread  Luther's  doctrine.  At  this  time  there  lived  a  woman  whose 
faithful  testimony  we  shall  now  tell  of. 

Argula  von  Grumbach,  whose  maiden  name  was  Von 
Stauffen,  was  born  about  1492.  Her  father,  Baron  von  Stauffen, 
was  the  son  of  a  very  distinguished  Bavarian  nobleman,  and  one 
of  the  most  chivalrous  men  of  his  time.  He  excelled  in  many  a 
knightly  contest,  and  his  prowess  and  skill  have  frequently  won 
for  him  the  prize  of  victory.  When  Argula  was  just  ten  years 
of  age,  her  father  made  her  a  present  of  one  of  those  translations 
of  the  Bible  which  had  been  written  before  Luther's  time,  and 
earnestly  commanded  her  to  read  it  diligently.  But  several  monks 
urged  her  not  to  follow  her  father's  counsel,  because  the  reading 
of  Scripture,  they  said,  was  a  dangerous  thing,  and  might  seduce 
her.  But  the  Lord  trained  her  early  in  the  school  of  adversity  to 
give  heed  unto.  His  Word.  Before  she  was  quite  grown  up,  she 
lost  both  her  parents  within  five  days.  She  and  the  six  other 
children  would  have  been  left  all  alone  and  forsaken  if  Duke 
William  had  not  taken  them  to  his  court  and  provided  for  them. 
So  she  was  brought  up  by  the  duchess  and  learned  "good  behavior 
and  the  fear  of  God."  Whenever  she  thought  of  those  days,  she 
said  with  heartfelt  gratitude,  "May  God  be  her  reward  here  in 
time  and  hereafter  in  eternity." 

At  the  duke's  court  she  met  a  Franconian  nobleman,  Frederick 
von  Grumbach.  Attracted  by  her  beauty  and  intelligence,  he  wooed 
and  won  her.  Two  sons  and  two  daughters  issued  from  this  mar- 
riage. 

While  Argula  was  busy  in  her  new  home  as  an  active  Martha, 
she  also,  like  Mary,  engaged  in  heavenly  things  and  diligently 
sought  the  one  thing  needful.  Luther's  mighty  voice  had  reached 
her  ear.  She  again  took  up  her  Bible,  compared  its  contents  with 
Luther's  writings,  and  was  soon  firmly  convinced  that  the  monk  at 
Wittenberg  taught  the  truth  of  the  Word  of  (lod.  She  was  so 
sure  of  the  correctness  of  his  doctrine,  that  she  once  spoke  these 
bold   words:   "And  even  if  it    would  come  to  this,  that  Luther  would 


—  26  — 

recant  his  doctrine,  yet  would  I  not  be  moved.  I  build  not  on  his 
intellect,  nor  on  mine  or  any  man's,  but  on  the  true  rock,  which 
is  Christ." 

Her  conscience  now  constrained  her  to  tell  others  of  what 
was  filling  her  heart  and  mind,  and  soon  a  thing  came  to  pass, 
which  caused  her  joyful  faith  to  shine  not  only  in  her  family  circle, 
but  far  beyond.  On  the  7th  of  September,  1523,  a  young  man  by 
the  name  of  Arsatius  Seehofer,  a  native  of  Munich,  was  charged 
with  Lutheranism  and  arraigned  before  the  inquisition  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Ingolstadt.  Seehofer  had  heard  Luther  and  Melanchthon 
at  Wittenberg,  and  had  endeavored  to  spread  the  pure  Word  of 
God.  He  had  been  promptly  arrested  and  put  in  prison.  He  was 
released  only  at  the  Duke's  special  command.  Seehofer  was  a  young 
man,  and  weak  in  faith.  He  allowed  himself  to  be  intimidated  by 
the  inquisitors,  who  threatened  to  burn  him  at  the  stake,  and  he 
obeyed  when  commanded  to  declare  that  all  he  had  said  and 
written  was  "  a  real  arch-heresy  and  roguery."  After  this  denial 
tears  rushed  from  his  eyes,  so  that  one  of  the  judges  remarked 
that  he  was  apparently  still  a  heretic. 

When  Argula  was  informed  of  this  occurrence  by  a  traveler 
from  Munich,  she  was  filled  with  holy  indignation  at  the  manner 
in  which  they  had  treated  "a  mere  child  of  eighteen."  She  hoped 
that  good  and  learned  men,  whose  wrath,  like  hers,  was  kindled 
against  "those  hardened  and  darkened  minds,"  would  take  the  im- 
prisoned youth's  part  by  writing  in  his  defense.  She  waited  one 
week,  downhearted  and  despondent.  But  when  even  now  she  saw 
no  man  "who  would  or  dared  speak,"  she  gathered  courage  and 
wrote  her  famous  letter  of  rebuke  to  the  school  at  Ingolstadt. 

She  was  fully  convinced  that  she  was  not  only  justified  in 
taking  this  step,  but  that  it  was  her  duty  according  to  Scripture, 
which  says  to  all,  regardless  of  sex,  that  they  should  confess  Christ 
before  the  world.  Her  faith  beams  bright  and  strong  in  the  letter 
she  sent  to  the  university.  She  wrote  in  part  as  follows:  "How 
will  you  prosper  with  your  great  university,  since  you  act  so  fool- 
ishly and  violently  against  the  Word  of  God  and  employ  force 
to  stop  the  holy  Gospel,  and  also  deny  it,  as  you  did  by  making 
Arsatius  Seehofer  swear  such  an  oath  and  forced  him  by  imprison- 
ment and  by  threatening  with  fire  to  deny  Christ  and  his  Word? 
Indeed,  when  I  think  of  it,  my  heart  and  all  my  members  tremble. 
What  do  Luther  and  Melanchton  teach  you  but  the  Word  of  God? 
You  condemn  them  without  having  convicted  them ;  did  Christ  or  his 
Apostles  teach  you  that?  Show  me  where  it  is  written.  You  great 
scholars,  I  find  nowhere  in  the  Bible  that  Christ  or  His  Apostles 
murdered,  burned,  imprisoned.  You  cannot  thrust  God  and  His 
Prophets  and  Apostles  out  of  heaven,  nor  can  you  drive  them  out 
of  the  world;  it  will  not  come  to  pass.  You  hypocrites,  you  have 
brought  to  nought  the  commandments  of  God  by  your  ordinances, 
but  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments   of  men   is   worship- 


—  27  — 

ping  in  vain."  In  conclusion  she  challenges  the  university  to  state 
to  her  in  writing  which  of  Luther's  articles  were  considered  heretical, 
but  at  the  same  time  she  offers  to  give  account,  preferably  in  the 
presence  of  the  princes  and  the  whole  community,  of  her  faith, 
being  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  not  afraid  of  the 
great  scholars.  "I  don't  know  Latin,"  she  wrote,  "but  you  know 
German,  having  been  born  and  reared  in  that  tongue."  One  of 
the  last  sentences  in  the  remarkable  letter  is,  "Return,  return  unto 
the  Lord,  for  He  is  kind  and  merciful." 

The  contents  of  that  message  soon  became  known.  To  guard 
against  misstatements  and  misinterpretations  she  sent  a  copy  of 
the  letter  to  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  Ingolstadt.  With  the 
copy  she  sent  a  note  stating  that  as  a  Christian,  who  in  baptism 
renounced  the  devil,  she  had  done  only  her  duty  in  writing  the 
letter,  and  that  she  was  not  afraid  of  her  enemies,  and  would,  if 
it  should  come  to  that,   suffer  death  for  Christ's  sake. 

Neither  the  town  council  nor  the  university  sent  Argula  a 
reply.  And  what  became  of  the  young  man  for  whom  she  had 
intervened?  Seehofer  suffered  pangs  of  conscience  for  having  re- 
canted. After  having  made  his  escape  from  prison  he  at  once 
hastened  to  Wittenberg,  and  with  tears  he  told  Luther  of  his  weak- 
ness and  downfall.  Luther  was  convinced  of  the  broken-hearted 
sinner's  sincerity  and  sent  him  to  the  grand-master  of  Prussia, 
where  he  preached  the  Gospel  for  a  year  and  a  half.  Later  he 
was  the  town-preacher  at  Winnenden,  Wuerttemberg,  where  after 
six  months  of  faithful  service  he  died  peacefully  in  the  Lord.  He 
was  a  son  of  rich  parents,  who  cast  him  out  and  disinherited  him 
on  account  of  his  Lutheran  faith.  He  suffered  this  patiently  and 
mentioned  his  parents  only  with  kind  consideration,  saying  that 
they  cast  him  off  for  fear  of  their  sovereign. 

Argula  begged  Duke  William  soon  after  her  first  confession 
to  let  the  Gospel  have  free  course  in  his  land.  But  she  was  soon 
in  a  dangerous  position.  The  mighty  chancellor  von  Eck  advised 
the  duke  that  the  laws  against  the  Lutheran  heresy  must  be  applied 
to  Argula  even  though  she  be  a  woman.  Her  husband  was  no 
support  to  her.  Though  he  did  not  immure  her,  as  Roman  friends 
advised  him  to  do,  he  let  her  feel  what  shame  she  brought  upon 
him  and  his  family  by  adhering  to  the  Lutheran  faith.  Argula 
was  aware  that  perhaps  she  would  have  to  seal  her  faith  with  a 
martyr's  death.  She  wrote  to  a  cousin,  "Even  if  it  came  to  this 
that  I  would   perish  on   account  of  it,  yet  would   I   have  grace;    as 

a  precious  jewel  would  my  s-oul  be  to  God,  the  Lord My  little 

ones  will  be  in  the  Lord's  care,  He  will  feed  and  clothe  them:  He 
has  promised.  He  cannot  lie." 

She  exchanged  letters  with  the  Wittenbergers.  In  the  year 
1 H 2 4  she  began  to  correspond  with  the  groat  Reformer  himself. 
Luther  wrote  of  her  in  a  letter  to  Spalatin,  "From  the  accom- 
panying letter  of  our  Argula  you  will  see  what  the  godly  woman 
has   to   bear   and    suffer."      She    said    of    Luther,    "He    has    begotten 


—  28  — 

me  again  through  the  Word  of  God,"  and  she  also  stated  that 
she  wished  Luther  the  reward  of  God  in  time  and  eternity  for  his 
translation  of  the  Bible  and  everything  that  God  had  done  through 
him.  Toward  the  end  of  the  year  1524  she  advised  the  Doctor 
to  enter  into  the  holy  state  of  matrimony  for  a  testimony  against 
the  "devil's  doctrine"  (1  Tim.  4,  If)  forbidding  the  priests  to  marry. 
She  became  more  closely  acquainted  with  him  when  during  the 
Diet  at  Augsburg  she  visited  him  several  times  at  Coburg  and  was 
richly  comforted  by  him.  She  also  spoke  words  of  encouragement 
to  those  who  at  that  memorable  Diet  presented  their  confession. 
At  that  time  she  wrote  to  Spalatin,  "Pear  not,  it  is  God's  matter; 
He  that  has  begun  it  in  us  without  our  aid  will  know  how  to 
protect  us;  He  that  keeps  Israel  will  not  sleep;  the  matter  is  His; 
He  will  still  the  strife  and  bring  it  to  an  expected  end." 

Because  she  could  not  be  induced  by  warnings  and  threats 
to  desist  from  confessing  and  spreading  Luther's  doctrine,  she  was 
banished  from  the  country,  and  her  son,  Hans  Georg,  was  dis- 
charged from  the  duke's  service.  She  had  long  anticipated  these 
consequences  and  had  said  years  before,  "We  must  leave  father, 
mother,  brother,  sister,  children,  goods,  and  our  very  life."  Nothing 
is  known  of  her  later  trials.  She  went  to  Franconia,  where,  on 
evangelical  soil,  her  weary  pilgrimage  came  to  a  close.  She  died 
in  1554  at  Zeilitzheim,  near  Schweinfurt,  and  was  buried  there. 
Even  after  her  death,  a  Jesuit  by  the  name  of  Getzen  called  her 
"a  Lutheran  fury."  We  honor  her  memory  as  that  of  a  great 
woman  and  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  She  has  been  held  in 
esteemed  remembrance  from  the  early  times  of  the  Lutheran  church. 
Ludwig  Rabus  mentions  her  in  his  "Book  of  Martyrs,"  of  155  6, 
"because  she  openly  confessed  her  faith  in  the  face  of  danger." 
By  a  later  historian  she  has  been  called  "the  German  Deborah  of 
the   Reformation." 


W 


5.    How  France  Drowned  the  Reformation  in  Blood. 

Luther's  doctrine  very  soon  spread  from  Germany  over  to 
France  and  as  early  as  1521  there  was  a  small  Lutheran  congre- 
gation at  Meaux,  which  soon  exerted  a  wholesome  influence  upo.n 
the  surrounding  country  and  became  the  mother  congregation  of 
the  Lutheran  church  in  France,  which  still  exists  to-day.  So  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  had  been  lighted  through  Luther  in  far  away 
France  and  shone  bright  far  and  wide.  The  sprouting  seed  of  the 
Reformation  grew  from  day  to  day,  and  those  that  rallied  so 
enthusiastically  to  the  banner  of  Christ  were  mostly  people  of 
rank  and  distinction.  The  very  noblest  of  the  nation  turned  to 
the  new  doctrine  and  showed  their  willingness  to  suffer  and  to 
die  for  the  same. 

It  seemed  at  first  as  if  the  Gospel  could  spread  in  France 
without  much  opposition.  It  was  even  hoped  that  by  and  by  all 
of  France  would  turn  to  the  light.  Yet  it  pleased  God  in  His 
providence  to  lead  the  French  protestant  through  centuries  of  ter- 
rible oppression   and   persecutions. 

Duprat,  the  king's  minister,  a  monster  in  human  form,  and 
Louise  of  Savoy,  the  kings  immoral  mother-in-law,  had  resolved 
to  entirely  exterminate  the  adherents  of  Luther.  King  Francis  I 
joined  the  wicked  alliance,  and  the  fourth  scoundrel  in  the  con- 
federacy was  Noel  Beda,  a  professor  at  the  University  of  Paris.  The 
last  named  was  the  most  rabid  of  them  all  in  the  movement 
against  the  Lutherans,  and  the  very  thought  of  burning  them  at 
the  stake  filled  his  heart  with  murderous  joy.  He  started  with 
Luther's  writings,  which  were  solemnly  condemned  by  the  uni- 
versity, and  burned  them  on  the  charge  that  they  were  full  of 
errors  and  a  public  menace.  The  persecution  was  then  carried 
farther.  It  was  now  directed  against  the  poorer  class  of  the  people, 
commonly  known  as  the  working  class,  who  had  longed  for  a  doc- 
trine that  could  satisfy  their  soul,  and  had  joyfully  accepted  the 
pure  Gospel  as  preached  by  Luther.  But  in  France  also  there  were 
men  of  prominence  among  those  that  gladly  turned  to  the  truth, 
and  the  man  of  whom  we  desire  to  make  special  mention  here  is 
Lefevre,  or  F  a  b  e  r,  Doctor  of  Divinity  at  Paris.  Against  him 
the  enemies  of  the  evangelical  faith  directed  their  fiercest  attacks. 

Lefevre  was  born  in  north-eastern  France,  in  1455.  Though 
small  of  stature  and  of  no  imposing  appearance,  he  captivated  his 
hearers  by  his  powerful  oratory.  He  was  a  confirmed  papist  and 
in  spite  of  his  learning  believed  all  the  Roman  doctrines  and  the 
silliest  stories  about  the  saints.  He  had  read  the  Bible  only  super- 
ficially.     One   day,    however,    he   chanced   to   read   the   letters   of   St. 


—  30  — 

Paul,  and  suddenly  his  eyes  were  opened,  and  he  saw  the  truth. 
He  had  now  found  the  very  center  of  the  Gospel.  "The  just  shall 
live  by  his  faith"  was  henceforth  the  doctrine  that  filled  and 
moved  his  heart,  and  he  at  once  communicated  to  his  students 
the  blessed  truth  he  had  found.  Many  of  them  were  converted 
and  firmly  believed  the  word  that  sinners  are  justified  freely  by 
God's  grace,  through  faith  in  Christ.  Brissonnet,  the  bishop  of 
Meaux,  also  turned  to  the  Gospel  and  permitted  it  to  be  preached 
in  his  territory.  The  new  doctrine  reached  even  the  royal  court. 
In  spite  of  Duprat,  Beda,  and  Louise  of  Savoy,  these  furious  ene- 
mies of  the  truth,  the  noblest  of  the  kingdom  gathered  under  the 
cross  of  Christ.  One  of  this  circle  of  believing  souls  was  Mar- 
garet, queen  of  Navarre,  sister  of  Francis  I,  who  had  read  Luther's 
writings   and   had   thereby   become   convinced   of   the  truth. 

When  Duprat  and  Louise  of  Savoy  began  to  persecute  the 
French  "heretics,"  Lefevre  had  to  flee  from  Paris.  He  found  a 
place  of  refuge  at  Meaux,  and  it  was  due  to  his  burning  zeal  that 
flourishing  congregations  sprang  up  about  Metz  and  Meaux.  In 
1522  he  translated  the  New  Testament  into  French,  and  soon  after 
that  the  Psalms.  The  pure  Gospel  was  soon  read  with  great  joy 
by  all  classes  of  the  people.  The  report  of  this  movement  reached 
Rome  and  filled  the  pope  with  wrath  and  terror.  He  was  horri- 
fied at  the  thought  that  all  France  would  become  faithless  to  him 
and  hurriedly  called  upon  Francis  I  to  destroy  the  heretics  with 
fire  and  sword.  The  king  did  not  hesitate  to  comply  with  the 
pope's  order,  and  the  persecutions  now  became  very  intense  and 
bitter ;  the  seed  of  the  divine  Word  was  sown  amid  blood  and  tears. 

Severe  measures  were  resorted  to  at  Meaux  as  early  as  1522. 
Lefevre  and  his  assistant  preachers  were  forced  to  flee,  and  the 
weak  bishop  Brissonnet  was  compelled  by  cruel  threats  to  cease 
from  preaching  the  Gospel.  After  the  faithful  preachers  had  thus 
been  removed,  the  mendicant  monks  again  took  charge  of  the 
preaching  and  did  all  they  could  to  extinguish  the  bright  light 
of  salvation  which  had  just  begun  to  shine  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Christians.  All  their  efforts,  however,  could  not  succeed  in  ex- 
tirpating the  good  seed  of  the  truth  which' had  been  happily  sown 
and  was  already  sprouting.  When  these  Lutherans  saw  that  the 
public  preaching  of  the  truth  was  no  longer  permitted,  they  met 
for  worship  secretly,  as  the  first  Christians  did,  when  they  were  per- 
secuted. These  French  Christians  held  their  services  in  private 
houses,  in  caves,  now  and  then  in  a  vineyard  or  in  the  woods,  which- 
ever seemed  safest  under  the  circumstances.  Whoever  was  best 
versed  in  Scripture  acted  as  preacher  and  comforted,  instructed, 
and  admonished  the  others  with  the  Word  of  God.  So  they  waited 
and  hoped  for  a  long  time  that  the  storm  should  blow  over  and 
all  France  accept  the  Gospel.  But  when  the  church  showed  no 
inclination  to  discard  the  popish  heresy,  some  of  them  resolved  to 
establish  the  Christian  ministry  in  their  midst.  They  chose  a  wool 
worker  by  the  name  of  Pierre  le  Clerc,  a  man  well  read  in  Scripture, 


—  31  — 

to  be  their  pastor.  He  faithfully  performed  the  duties  of  the  min- 
istry which  was  committed  unto  him.  Every  Sunday  and  on  festival 
days  the  congregation  met  at  the  home  of  a  very  old  Christian 
man  named  Etienne  Mangin.  First  Le  Clerc  expounded  the  Scrip- 
tures according  to  the  measure  of  grace  which  had  been  given 
him,  then  the  assembly  united  in  prayer  and  sang  the  psalms  and 
other  spiritual  songs.  After  having  joined  in  confessing  that  they 
would  completely  break  away  from  the  error  of  the  popish  church, 
they  all  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper  according  to  our  Master's 
institution. 


JACOBUS       FABER,    JhyMifoists. 


Le  Fevre. 


The  little  congregation  soon  grew  so  large  that  there  were 
frequently  more  than  three  hundred  men,  women,  and  children 
in  attendance.  They  came  not  only  from  the  city  of  Meaux,  but 
also  from  surrounding  villages,  some  of  them  many  miles  distant. 

Chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Christian  laymen,  as  for  in- 
stance Pierre  le  Clerc,  a  blessed  springtime  of  Christian  life  blos- 
somed in  France.  The  Gospel  as  preached  by  Luther  was  spread 
in  the  land,  though  mostly  in  secret,  and  everywhere  hearts  were 
turned  to  the  only  Savior  Jesus  Christ  and  found  peace  in  him. 

Of  course,  the  larger  the  number  of  believers  grew,  the  more 
they  became  known.     The  first  one  to  suffer  death  for  bearing  wit- 


—  32  — 

ness  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine  was  a  brother  of  Pierre  le  Clerc; 
his  name  was  Jean.  He  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  members  of 
the  congregation  at  Meaux  and  although,  like  his  brother,  he  was 
only  a  wool  worker,  he  went  from  house  to  house  and  encouraged 
the  believers  to  remain  faithful.  He  even  wrote  a  declaration 
against  the  Antichrist  at  Rome  and  nailed  it  to  the  door  of  the 
cathedral.  This  attracted  the  attention  of  the  monks,  and  he  was 
arrested.  He  was  not  given  much  time  for  his  defense,  but  judg- 
ment was  quickly  pronounced  that  he  should  be  whipped  through 
the  streets  of  the  town  for  three  days,  and  then  branded  on  the 
forehead.  This  did  not  frighten  Le  Clerc  in  the  least.  Calmly  he 
gave  his  back  to  the  scourgers.  Blood  literally  flowed  in  streams 
from  the  abused  body  and  .marked  the  streets  through  which  the 
martyr  was  led.  ,  When  on  the  fourth  day  a  red  hot  iron  was 
pressed  on  his  brow,  a  scream  was  heard  in  the  multitude.  It  was 
the  sufferer's  mother,  who  in  this  way  gave  vent  to  her  grief.  She 
soon  recovered  herself  and  said  with  trembling  voice,  "May  Christ 
live,  and   His  sign.'' 

The  branded  hero  now  went  to  Metz,  where  he  worked  at  his 
trade  and  besides  strove  to  win  souls  for  the  Gospel.  One  day 
the  young  man  was  misled  by  his  impetuous  zeal  to  destroy  the 
pictures  consecrated  to  Mary  during  the  festival  celebrated  in  the 
Virgin's  honor.  Who  will  describe  the  fury  of  the  people!  The 
perpetrator  was  soon  detected  and  punishment  by  fire  meted  out. 
He  was  not  simply  burned  to  death,  but  to  amuse  the  spectators 
his  tormentors  pinched  off  his  members  one  after  the  other  with 
iron  tongs.  Throughout  these  dreadful  tortures  Le  Clerc  remained 
calm  and  cheerful  and  prayed  aloud  the  115th  Psalm.  When  he 
spoke  the  9th  verse,  "O  Israel,  trust  thou  in  the  Lord:  He  is  their 
help  and  their  shield,"  his  voice  failed.  Slowly  roasted  by  fire, 
the  first  martyr  of  France  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  He 
died  on  the  22d  of  July,   1524. 

In  the  meantime  William  Parel,  a  scholar  of  Lefevre,  was 
spreading  the  Reformation  in  southern  Prance  with  burning  zeal. 
He  soon  won  Anemond  de  Coct,  of  whom  Luther  wrote  later,  "This 
Prench  knight  is  an  excellent,  learned,  and  pious  man,  and  won- 
derfully zealous  for  the  Gospel."  Untiringly  the  two  friends  worked 
for  the  pure  doctrine,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  city  of  Lyons  had 
been  destined  to  become  the  evangelical  camp.  But  this  was  not 
to  be.  Again  the  heroic  confessors  had  to  flee.  Farel  went  to  Basel, 
Anemond  de  Coct  to  Wittenberg  to  become  acquainted  with  Luther. 
The  great  Reformer  was  delighted  with  the  winning  ways  of  the 
Frenchman,  who  was  also  well  satisfied  with  his  visit  at  Witten- 
berg. 

De  Coct  now  translated  the  best  reformatory  writings  into 
French  and  saw  that  they  were  printed.  With  these  books  and 
Lefevre's  translation  of  the  Xew  Testament  agents  went  from  house 
to  house  in  France  and  so  scattered  the  seed  of  the  divine  Word. 
De  Coct's  death  occurred  in   1525,  and  after  his  death  a  violent  per- 


—  33   — 

secution  took  place.  The  first  victims  of  the  new  slaughter  were 
Wolfgang  Schuch,  Dyonisius  of  Rieux,  Ludwig  Berquin,  and  a  her- 
mit of  Ivoy.  When  the  pyre  of  the  latter  was  burning,  there  was 
among  the  multitude  of  the  spectators  a  young  man  who  with  a 
piercing  gaze  was  looking  intently  at  the  cheerful  face  of  the  mar- 
tyr. The  youth  was  John  Calvin,  who  at  that  time  was  still  in 
the  snares  of  popery  and  yet  was  deeply  shocked  when  the  doomed 
man  bowed  his  head  in  death,  saying,  "I  die  believing  in  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ." 


A  Lutheran  Martyr's  Death, 


One  of  the  first  martyrs  of  the  French  Reformation  was  Wolf- 
gang Schuch,  whose  name  we  have  mentioned,  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  had  published  the  pure  doctrine  in  a  city  of  Lorraine.  When 
the  Parisian  clergy  had  heard  of  this,  they  demanded  of  the  Lor- 
raine authorities  that  they  deliver  the  heretic.  When  the  refusal 
to  give  up  Schuch  was  met  with  threats  to  destroy  the  city,  Schuch 
gave  himself  up  to  his  persecutors,  who  at  once  sentenced  him  to 
death.  Calmly  and  cheerfully,  as  if  he  had  received  a  pleasant 
invitation,  the  martyr  replied  to  the  announcement  of  the  verdict 
by  saying:  "I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me,  Let  us  go  into 
the  house  of  the  Lord,"  (Ps.  122.)  On  the  9th  of  August,  1525, 
he   was  burned   to  death  at  Xancy.      When   the   names  covered   him 


—  34  — 

he  prayed  with  a  loud  voice,  "Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  accord- 
ing to  Thy  lovingkindness:  according  unto  the  multitude  of  Thy 
tender  mercies  blot  out  my  transgressions."  With  this  prayer  he 
entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord. 

About  the  same  time  another  heroic  witness,  Louis  de  Berquin, 
remained  faithful  to  a  martyr's  death.  He  was  born  about  1.490, 
and  was  reared  in  catholic  piety.  When  he  grew  up  and  took 
notice  of  the  evils  of  his  time,  his  honest  heart  rebelled  against 
the  hypocrisy  and  the  bad  life  of  many  of  the  priests.  Still  he 
was  far  from  severing  his  connection  with  the  French  church. 
When  the  news  of  Martin  Luther's  activity  reached  France,  he  did 
not  feel  inclined  to  support  the  cause  of  the  bold  monk  at  Witten- 
berg. He  still  believed  the  church  could  be  reformed  by  improv- 
ing the  morals  of  the  priests ;  he  still  adhered  to  the  catholic  doc- 
trine. But  he  changed  his  mind  when  he  started  to  read  the  Bible. 
Later  on  he  procured  Luther's  writings,  which  in  spite  of  man- 
dates forbidding  their  importation  were  brought  in  large  shipments 
into  France.  He  found  what  he  had  long  sought:  enlightenment 
on  doubtful  points  and  rest  for  his  conscience.  The  work  of  Luther, 
which  at  first  he  condemned,  he  resolved  ardently  to  further.  What 
caused  this  change  was  chiefly  the  doctrine  of  a  sinner's  justifi- 
cation alone  by  faith,  so  powerfully  taught  by  Luther,  and  now 
so  clearly  seen  in  Scripture  by  Berquin  himself. 

Berquin  was  desirous  of  giving  others  the  knowledge  of  sal- 
vation which  he  had  received.  He.  therefore  translated  a  few  of 
Luther's  writings  into  French.  Even  though  these  translations 
were  not  printed,  but  distributed  only  in  manuscript  copies,  some 
of  them  came  into  the  hands  of  enemies.  The  doctors  at  the  uni- 
versity denounced  Berquin  as  a  heretic.  When  Noel  Beda,  that 
bitter  enemy  of  the  truth,  had  a  search  made  of  all  the  homes  of 
people  suspected  of  being  Lutherans,  Berquin's  house  was  also 
entered  and  his  books  and  manuscripts  confiscated.  The  perse- 
cutors were  very  wroth  when  they  found  that  Berquin  not  only 
had  some  of  Luther's  works  in  his  possession,  but  had  written 
notes  in  the  margins  of  these  books,  indicating  that  he  had  studied 
them  and  accepted  their  teachings.  At  one  place  he  had  written, 
"Faith  justifies,  that  is,  faith  is  a  cause  of  our  justification.  Not 
the  holy  Virgin  is  our  hope  and  our  life,  but  Christ  only."  In  the 
opinion  of  the  Roman  church  every  one  who  believed  that  doctrine 
was  a  firebrand  of  hell.  This  Berquin  must  be  a  horrible  heretic, 
they  thought.  On  June  2  6th,  1523,the  doctors  of  the  university 
brought  in  the  verdict  that  those  sentences  must  be  condemned, 
all  of  Luther's  books  found  in  France  must  be  burned,  and  Berquin 
must  recant,  refrain  from  further  writing,  and  remain  in  his  station 
as  a  layman  and  not  meddle  with  theological  questions.  Those 
men  would  not  tolerate  that  anybody  sought  the  salvation  of  his 
soul  and  peace  of  conscience  anywhere  but  in  their  miserable  wis- 
dom. Berquin  refused  to  recant.  Long  discussions  followed.  Once 
he   was  imprisoned,   and  again   was  given  his  liberty.      Soon  after, 


—  35  — 

the  chancellor  Duprat,  that  hitter  enemy  of  the  evangelical  faith, 
called  a  great  synodical  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  passing  judg- 
ment on  Luther's  heresies.  The  synod  solemnly  condemned  Luther's 
teachings,  prohibited  the  sale  and  use  of  his  translation  of  the 
Bible,  and  ordered  the  authorities  to  punish  all  heretics.  Berquin 
was  again  accused.  On  account  of  his  prominence,  twelve  council- 
lors instead  of  four  were  appointed  to  investigate  the  case.  They 
passed  the  dreadful  sentence  that  Berquin  should  witness  the  burn- 
ing of  his  writings,  and  then  his  tongue  should  be  pierced  with 
an  iron  instrument;  after  that,  if  he  survived  the  torture,  he  should 
be  imprisoned  for  the  rest  of  his  life.     He  appealed  to  the  king, 


Burning  the  Writings  of  Luther  and  the  Bible. 


but  to  no  purpose.  Far  from  commuting  the  sentence  of  the  coun- 
cillors to  one  less  severe,  the  judges  rather  made  it  more  cruel 
still  by  sentencing  him  to  be  burned  at  the  stake. 

Berquin  had  many  friends  among  the  Parisian  scholars,  who, 
though  they  did  not  agree  with  him  in  doctrine,  esteemed  him 
highly  for  his  wonderful  intellect.  They  came  to  him  in  prison 
after  the  sentence  of  death  had  been  published  and  begged  him  to 
recant  this  time,  as  his  death  could  benefit  nobody,  and  he  ought 
to  spare  himself  for  better  days.  So  the  devil  tempted  him  through 
his  friends  to  deny  the  truth.  But  Berquin  remained  firm,  lie  still 
appealed  to  the  king.  The  king  was  completely  influenced  by  the 
clergy,  and  so  no  help  was  to  be  expected  from  him.     Berquin  was 


—  sa  — 

hopelessly  doomed.  On  the  22d  of  April,1529,  a  pyre  was  built 
on  the  Grave-Place.  Six  hundred  soldiers  were  ordered  to  prevent 
the  prisoner's  escape.  The  condemned  man  was  conveyed  to  the 
place  of  execution  in  a  cart.  His  features  betrayed  no  fear;  he 
seemed  to  be  engaged  in  quiet  meditation,  "as  if  he  were  sitting 
in  his  study  with  his  books,"  as  an  eye-witness  says.  Quietly  he 
stepped  from  the  cart.  He  addressed  the  people,  but  the  shouting 
of  the  soldiers  and  the  monks  drowned  his  voice.  He  was  strangled 
to  death,  and  his  body  was  burned. 

Both  the  faithfulness  of  this  French  nobleman  and  the  atrocity 
of  his  tormentors  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people.  Among  the  large  number  of  glorious  confessors  in  France 
none  shines   brighter  than   Louis   de   Berquin. 


T2T 


6.    How  the  Gospel  Light  Came  to 
the  Town  of  Verden. 

On  a  sunny  December  day  in  the  year  1525  the  bells  of  the 
old  cathedral  at  Verden,  Hannover,  were  ringing  in  a  festival.  It 
was  the  festival  of  the  immaculate  conception  of  Mary.  The  peas- 
ants from  the  villages  were  going  to  church.  They  were  met  by 
a  stranger  who  enquired  where  they  were  going.  "To  Verden," 
they  replied,  "it  is  the  festival  of  Mary."  With  a  smile  the  stranger 
answered,  "The  festival  of  Mary?  She  is  a  woman  like  other 
women."  The  farmers  did  not  understand  him,  and  passed  on.  The 
stranger  was  quite  a  young  man,  but  his  life  had  been  one  of  varied 
experience.  John  Bornemacher  was  his  name.  He  had  been 
a  monk  in  the  convent  of  Walkenried,  in  the  Harz  Mountains, 
where  he  had  sought  peace  for  his  soul.  He  heard  of  Luther,  the 
herald  of  liberty,  escaped  from  the  cloister  walls,  and  went  to 
Bremen.  There  he  was  joyfully  received  and  was  made  the  pastor 
of  a  small  church  just  outside  the  city.  Being  anxious  to  hear 
Luther  personally,  he  went  to  Wittenberg,  where  he  found  thousands 
of  people,  who,  like  himself,  were  endued  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Reformation,  all  of  them  roused  to  holy  enthusiasm  by  the  burning 
zeal  of  the  great  Reformer.  Before  his  departure  he  had  purchased 
a  great  many  of  Luther's  tracts  to  distribute  among  the  people.  He 
had  now  reached  Verden. 

He  entered  the  cathedral  with  the  rest  of  the  people.  High 
mass  was  over,  and  the  bishop  had  left  the  church.  The  congre- 
gation was  still  assembled,  listening  to  a  sermon.  Mary  was  being 
extolled  as  the  mother  of  God  (which  she  was)  and  as  the  holy, 
sinless  virgin  (which  she  was  not).  Suddenly  Bornemacher  steps 
to  the  front  and  contradicts  the  preacher.  The  people  were  amazed 
and  stepped  back.  Bornemacher,  frightened  at  his  own  reckless- 
ness in  defending  the  truth,  left  the  church  and  ran  through  the 
city.  Ashamed  of  his  flight  he  soon  returned  and  was  about  to 
reenter  the  church,  when  he  was  captured,  brought  before  the  bish- 
op and  put  on  trial.  He  refused  to  give  any  account  of  himself. 
To  make  him  give  the  desired  information  the  bishop  called  his 
executioner  and  ordered  him  to  torture  the  captive  by  pinching 
him  with  hot  irons.  The  man  confessed;  he  admitted  that  he  had 
been  at  Wittenberg;  that  he  had  heard  Luther,  that  he  had  read 
and  spread  Luther's  writings.  That  was  enough;  he  was  con- 
demned as  a  heretic  worthy  of  death. 

To  maintain  a  show  of  right,  the  court  Luegenstein  was  as- 
sembled to  try  the  case.     The  preacher  was  taken  from  the  prison 


—  38  — 

and  brought  before  the  judges.  Cheerfully  he  confessed  his  faith 
in  the  saving  power  of  the  Gospel,  and  he  received  his  sentence: 
death  by  fire. 

In  a  solemn  procession  the  poor  man  was  led  to  the  place 
of  execution,  which  was  outside  the  city,  near  the  old  castle  by 
the  city's  gate.  The  pyre  was  soon  in  readiness,  and  the  condemned 
man  was  tied  to  a  ladder.  The  wood  was  set  on  fire  and  the  heretic 
cast  into  the  fire.  The  crackling  flames  and  the  thick  smoke 
smothered  his  last  prayer.  A  folk  song  of  that  time  describes  the 
entire  bloody  and  murderous  procedure  and  closes  with  the  follow- 
ing words: 

"If  Christ  were  not  already  killed 
He  ought  to  come  to  Verden," 

that  is,  the  people  of  Verden  would  soon  crucify  the  Savior  him- 
self, if  they  could  lay  hands  on  Him. 

The  bishop  who  instigated  the  killing  of  Bornemacher  was 
Duke  Christopher  of  Brunswick,  who  as  a  mere  boy  was  conse- 
crated bishop  of  Verden.  At  the  time  of  which  we  tell  at  the 
beginning  of  this  narrative  he  was  a  handsome,  tall  man,  but  with- 
out faith  and  godliness,  like  so  many  prominent  preachers  in  those 
days.  He  was  a  man  of  ungovernable  passion  and  pleasure-seeking 
in  the  extreme.  This  young  bishop  of  Verden  was  aware  that  the 
church  needed  a  reformation,  but  the  reformation  he  had  in  mind 
was  nothing  more  than  a  reestablishment  of  old  formalities,  and 
by  insisting  upon  strict  order  in  the  church  he  endeavored  to  stay 
the  impending  ruin.  He  demanded  that  the  clergy  officiating  in 
his  cathedral  lay  aside  their  secular  dress,  and  above  all  he  ob- 
jected to  their  wearing  a  beard.  One  of  the  reverend  gentlemen 
was  threatened  with  being  deprived  of  his  income  because  he  would 
not  dispense  with  his  beard.  The  bishop  further  troubled  the 
priests  with  constant  processions  and  vigils,  and  that  without  any 
consideration  for  old  age  and  physical  infirmity.  Whoever  was 
tardy  was  compelled  to  say  five  Paternosters  and  five  Ave  Marias 
at  the  altar.  In  this  way  bishop  Christopher  tried  to  reform  his 
bishopric.  He  was  willing  also  to  set  a  good  example  in  that  sort 
of  reformation.  When  he  stood  before  the  altar  in  his  priestly 
garb,  which  his  mother  had  made  out  of  her  bridal  dress,  his  head 
covered  with  a  mitre,  which  she  had  adorned  with  her  costliest 
pearls  and  other  gems,  singing  the  mass  with  sonorous  voice,  he 
considered  himself  in  no  wise  lacking  anything  that  enters  into 
the  makeup  of  a  model  bishop. 

The  bishop  was  himself  unconverted,  and,  of  course  converted 
nobody  by  such  means.  The  only  thing  that  could  do  any  good 
was  the  pure,  unadulterated,  genuine  Gospel,  but  he  set  himself 
against  that  with  all  the  energy  of  his  will  and  put  forth  every 
effort  to  keep  it  out  of  his  bishopric.  When  Lutheranism  had  never- 
theless found  its  way  into  many  hearts  even  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  territory,  he  entered  into  an  agreement  with  his  clergy  to 
help   each    other   and    with    united    strength    to    stop   the   spreading 


—  39  — 

of  the  Lutheran  heresy.  Poor  Bornemacher  had  been  the  first 
victim  of  this  compact.  In  the  years  following  his  death  the  people 
of  Verden  supported  the  emperor  in  his  fight  against  the  church 
of  the  Reformation. — 

Decades  have  passed  since  the  first  witness  of  the  truth  in  the 
bishopric  of  Verden  was  murdered.  It  is  now  the  Christmas-tide 
of  the  year  1557.  There  is  a  great  commotion  in  the  bishop's  resi- 
dence at  Verden.  Servants  are  running  to  and  fro,  boxes  are  being 
hurriedly  packed  and  placed  on  a  wagon,  over  sixty  horses  are 
ready  saddled  or  hitched  to  conveyances — what  does  it  all  mean? 
The  bishop  is  preparing  for  a  journey.  Whereto?  To  Berlin.  What, 
an  old  man  of  sixty  undertaking  a  journey  from  Verden  to  Berlin 
in  winter?  It  must  be  a  matter  of  extraordinary  importance  to 
induce  a  man  of  that  age  to  undertake  such  a  far  trip  at  such 
an  unfavorable  time  of  the  year.  What  was  the  trouble?  The 
bishop  was  financially  embarrassed.  He  had  been  short  of  money 
all  his  life,  and  by  this  time  he  was  head  over  heels  in  debt.  His 
desire  to  make  show,  his  gorgeous  apparel,  his  luxurious  meals, 
his  expensive  journeys,  his  lawsuits,  his  expeditions  of  war,  all 
this  had  cost  an  enormous  amount  of  money.  He  had  tried  in 
every  possible  way,  by  hook  and  crook,  to  secure  the  means  where- 
with to  meet  his  obligations.  He  had  mortgaged  castles  and  estates, 
made  himself  guilty  of  graft  and  embezzlement  on  a  large  scale, 
and  even  plundered  the  common  treasury  and  the  private  residences 
of  his  priests.  After  the  Diet  at  Augsburg  he  pawned  his  diamond- 
covered  headgear  and  his  precious  staff  in  order  to  get  money  for 
his  homeward  journey.  But  now  there  was  no  possible  way  of 
getting  any  more  money;  his  credit  was  gone.  So  he  resolved  to 
go  to  Berlin,  where  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  enter  into  an  agree- 
ment which  would  secure  rest  and  comfort  for  his  last  days  and 
protection  against  the  demands  of  his  creditors.  But  he  did  not 
get  as  far  as  Berlin.  He  took  sick  on  the  way,  had  to  come  down 
from  his  horse  and  continue  his  journey  in  a  wagon,  and  then  had 
to  be  taken  out  of  the  wagon  and  put  to  bed.  An  attack  of  suffo- 
cation ended  his  life  a  few  hours  later.  He  was  buried  in  his  ca- 
thedral. 

Duke  George  of  Brunswick  was  chosen  as  his  successor.  He 
was  a  brother  of  the  deceased,  but  the  very  opposite  in  character. 
While  Christopher  had  lived  only  for  himself,  George  was  self- 
sacrificing,  denied  himself  the  comforts  and  some  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  carefully  supervised  the  management  of  his  bishopric  in  all 
its  branches,  and  thus  endeavored  to  restore  to  his  land  what  an- 
other had  robbed. 

From  the  beginning,  when  he  first  began  to  reign,  George  prom- 
ised to  tolerate  the  Lutheran  religion  in  his  land.  He  was  personally 
not  far  from  accepting  the  truth  and  eventually  did  embrace  the 
Lutheran  faith.     This  was  brought  about  in  the  following  manner. 

One  day  in  the  year  15G3  there  was  a  banquet  at  the  bishop's 
residence.      The  bishop   delighted   in   having   his   learned   friends   at 


—  40  — 

his  table  and  engaging  with  them  in  serious  conversation.  The 
Augsburg  Confession  was  also  talked  about.  A  goodly  number  of 
his  intimate  friends  were  already  on  the  side  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession. Suddenly  one  of  the  guests  began  boldly  to  praise  the 
Lutheran  Confession  and  said  it  was  a  book  in  full  harmony  with 
the  Word  of  God  and  finally  asked  the  bishop  to  examine  the  Con- 
fession carefully  and  in  the  fear  of  God.  And  what  was  the  re- 
sult? The  bishop  read  the  Confession  after  the  meal,  he  read  it 
again  and  for  the  third  time,  and  became  convinced  that  the  popish 
doctrine  is  flatly  against  Scripture  and  the  Lutheran  in  perfect 
harmony  with  it.  He  announced  his  changed  position  to  the  as- 
sembled clergy,  who  were  already  so  far  advanced  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth  that  they  gave  a  willing  ear  to  the  bishop's  plea  to 
join  hands  with  the  workers  for  the  cause  of  true  Christianity.  So 
the  bishop  officially  gave  permission  to  introduce  the  article  of 
justification  by  faith,  and  to  give  the  cup  to  the  laity,  and  that  the 
clergy  may  marry. 

The  churches  retained  their  old  ornaments,  the  pictures  of 
saints  and  the  various  altars,  and  priests  continued  to  wear  their 
garb,  but  the  Holy  Scriptures  had  taken  the  place  of  ordinances  of 
men  as  the  only  guide  in  all  matters  of  doctrine  and  life,  and  con- 
sequently the  mass,  pilgrimages,  fastings,  and  similar  practices 
were  soon  things  of  the  past. 

When  Bishop  George  felt  his  end  approaching  he  requested 
the  Sacrament  and  partook  of  it  in  accordance  with  Christ's  in- 
stitution. He  made  the  confession  that  he  looked  alone  to  Christ's 
merits  for  a  blessed  end.  He  fell  asleep  on  the  4th  of  December, 
1566,  and  was  deeply  mourned  by  his  subjects,  who  under  his 
rulership  had  enjoyed  his  protection  and  a  peaceable  life.  He  was 
laid  to  rest  in  the  cathedral  beside  his  brother  Christopher.  The 
two  bodies  are  enclosed  by  a  monument  of  sandstone,  on  the  sur- 
face of  which  their  pictures  are  chiselled. 

After  the  death  of  George  there  were  efficient  preachers  at 
Verden.  Most  of  the  priests  who  still  adhered  to  the  pope  had 
died.  The  mass  was  abolished,  and  the  Latin  chants  of  the  priests 
were  supplanted  by  Luther's  German  hymns.  The  preaching  of 
the  pure  Word  of  God  was  made  the  main  part  of  the  service.  The 
Lutheran  liturgy  was  introduced  on  October  ]0th,  15  68.  A  few 
years  later  the  Formula  of  Concord  was  adopted  and  signed  by  all 
the  preachers  of  the  bishopric.  The  truth  had  won  the  victory  at 
Verden. 


^ST 


7.    Patrick  Hamilton,  A  Martyr  of  Royal  Line. 

A  Scotchman  of  royal  blood,  who  opened  a  path  for  the  Gos- 
pel in  his  home  country  and  sealed  his  allegiance  to  Luther's  doc- 
trine with  his  blood  is  surely  worthy  of  the  monument  that  we 
shall  endeavor,  by  this  brief  biography,  to  erect  in  his  honor.  His 
name  was  Patrick  Hamilton.  He  was  born  near  Glasgow, 
about  1504.  His  father  was  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton,  son  of  Lord  of 
Hamilton  and  Princess  Mary,  daughter  of  King  James  II  of  Scotland. 
Sir  Patrick  was  the  first  of  Scottish  knights  when  Scottish  chivalry 
was  in  the  height  of  its  glory. 

Brought  up  among  relatives  of  rank  and  refinement,  Patrick 
became  distinguished  for  high  breeding  and  courtesy  and  for  an 
intense  love  for  all  humanistic  and  liberal  studies.  By  the  grace 
of  God  he  not  only  became  the  first  reformer  of  Scotland,  but  also 
a  martyr  to  the  true  doctrine. 

When  Hamilton  was  only  fourteen  years  old,  the  influence  of 
his  powerful  family  made  him  Abbot  of  Ferae,  and  the  revenues 
gave  him  means  to  study  abroad.  He  entered  the  college  of  Mon- 
taigu  in  Paris,  and  in  1520  he  became  a  Master  of  Arts.  During 
Hamilton's  residence  in  Paris,  Luther  was  much  talked  of  in  that 
city.  "An  impulse  was  propagated  in  the  University  .  .  .  the  strong 
hand  of  Luther  knocked  violently  at  its  gates,  and  the  sound  went 
through  all  its  studious  halls  and  cloisters,"  says  Lorimer.  It  was 
chiefly  the  Disputation  between  Luther  and  Eck  that  caused  such 
a  stir  in  Paris.  The  question  in  the  controversy  had  been,  whether 
the  pope  had  any  preeminence  over  other  bishops — which  the  Roman 
church  taught,  and  Luther  denied.  A  great  many  copies  of  this 
Disputation  were  brought  to  Paris,  and  the  university  was  called 
upon  to  examine  the  book  and  to  render  an  opinion  thereon.  All 
Europe  waited  anxiously  for  the  decision,  for  the  learned  doctors 
of  the  university  were  widely  known  among  men  of  learning.  The 
university  solemnly  decreed,  on  the  15th  of  April,  1521,  in  the 
presence  of  students  from  every  country  in  Christendom,  that 
Luther  was  a  heretic,  and  that  his  works  should  be  publicly  thrown 
into  the  flames.     This  was  done. 

From  Paris  Hamilton  went  to  the  University  of  Louvain.  He 
returned  to  Scotland  and  became  a  member  of  the  University  of 
St.  Andrews,  where  he  was  later  admitted  in  the  Faculty  of  Arts. 
St.  Andrews  was  the  ecclesiastical  and  literary  capital  of  the  king- 
dom, the  Vatican  of  Scotland. 

At  the  end  of  1524,  books  of  Luther  were  brought  into  Scotland 
and  created  a  sensation,  as  they  did  everywhere.  Gavin  Dunbar, 
the  old  bishop  of  Aberdeen,  was  the  first  to  find  it  out.  discovering 


—  42  — 

one  day  a  volume  of  Luther  in  his  own  town.  As  like  discoveries 
were  made  in  St.  Andrews,  Linlithgow,  and  other  places,  the  affair 
was  brought  before  Parliament. 

On  July  17th,  1525,  the  clergy  procured  the  passing  of  the 
following  act,  "Forasmuch  as  the  damnable  opinions  and  heresy 
are  spread  in  divers  countries  by  the  heretic  Luther  and  his  dis- 
ciples, ....  therefore,  that  no  manner  of  person,  stranger,  that  hap- 
pens to  arrive  with  the  ships  within  any  part  of  this  realm,  bring 
with  him  any  books  or  works  of  said  Luther,  his  disciples  or  ser- 
vants, dispute  or  rehearse  his  heresies  or  opinions,  unless  it  be  to 
the  confusion  thereof,  under  pain  of  escheating  of  their  ships  and 
goods,  and  putting  of  their  persons  in  prison."  In  spite  of  these 
and  even  more  severe  measures,  the  Lutheran  doctrine  spread  very 
rapidly  throughout  the  land.  Luther's  tracts  were  distributed  in 
large  numbers  and  many  copies  of  Tyndale's  translation  of  the 
Bible  found  their  way  into  Scottish  homes  and  won  Scottish  hearts 
for  the  Gospel.  Only  one  thing  was  still  wanting — the  voice  of 
the  living  preacher.  The  first  that  God  prepared  and  produced  was 
Patrick  Hamilton. 

In  1526  Hamilton  began  to  declare  openly  his  new  convictions, 
in  the  cathedral  and  elsewhere,  and  soon  the  report  of  his  heresy 
was  carried  to  the  ears  of  the  archbishop.  In  1527  Beaton  made 
an  investigation  and  found  that  Hamilton  was  "inflamed  with  her- 
esy, disputing,  holding,  and  maintaining  divers  heresies  of  Martin 
Luther  and  his  followers,  repugnant  to  the  faith;"  whereupon  he 
proceeded  to  have  him  formally  summoned  and  accused. 

Hamilton  was  not  ready  just  yet  for  the  crown  of  martyrdom, 
and  so  he  went  to  Germany  and  spent  some  time  at  Wittenberg, 
where  "he  became  familiar,"  says  Knox,  "with  those  lights  and 
notable  servants  of  Jesus  Christ  at  that  time,  Martin  Luther,  Philip 
Melanchthon,  and  Francis  Lambert."  At  Wittenberg  the  young 
Scotch  abbot  found  the  monasteries  deserted,  and  Luther,  once  a 
monk,  living  happily  in  a  few  rooms  of  the  empty  Augustinian 
cloister,  with  his  new-married  wife,  a  converted  and  fugitive  nun, 
Catharina  von  Bora.  He  saw  the  churches  of  the  city  purged  of 
the  old  superstitions.  He  heard  the  gospel-hymns  of  Luther  sung 
in  loud  and  fervent  chorus  by  crowded  congregations.  He  saw  the 
excellent  pastor,  John  Bugenhagen,  standing  in  the  pulpit  of  the 
ancient  parish  church,  preaching  the  Word  of  life.  He  listened 
with  admiration  to  the  eloquence  of  Luther  poured  forth  upon  select 
congregations  of  courtiers  and  academics  from  the  pulpit  of  the 
Castle  Church.  In  both  churches  he  saw  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  body  and  blood  administered  to  the  communicants  in  both 
kinds.  Luther's  New  Testament  was  read  everywhere.  The  little 
city  was  crowded  to  inconvenience  with  the  multitude  of  students 
who  flocked  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Luther 
and  Melanchthon. 

When  the  pestilence  broke  out  in  Wittenberg,  the  Scots  went 
to  Marburg  for  the  opening  of  the  new  university,  where  they  were 


—  43  — 

enrolled  as  numbers  37,  38,  and  39.  Here  Hamilton  grew  firmer 
and  firmer  in  the  conviction  that  through  the  German  reformers 
the  old  truth  of  the  Word  of  God  was  proclaimed  anew.  Lambert 
said  of  Hamilton,  "I  can  truly  say  that  I  have  seldom  met  with 
anyone  who  conversed  on  the  Word  of  God  with  greater  spirituality 
and  earnestness  of  feeling." 

For  a  time  Hamilton  was  a  co-worker  of  the  Englishman  Tyn- 
dale,  who  translated  the  Bible  into  English  and  was  burned  for 
the  Lutheran  faith.     In  Marburg,  where  Tyndale  had  found  refuge 


Catherine  von  Bora. 

From  the  Painting  liy  [,ucas  Cran 


when  pursued  by  his  enemies,  he  and  Hamilton  lived  and  labored 
together.  Hamilton  at  this  time  put  forth  a  series  of  theses  to  be 
publicly  defended.  From  them  it  is  clear  that  Hamilton  was  a  close 
student  of  Luther,  especially  of  his  "Freedom  of  a  Christian  Man". 
Having  read  Luther,  Hamilton  became  a  Lutheran  in  doctrine;  hav- 
ing seen  and  talked  with  Luther,  and  lived  for  time  in  the  element 
which  the  great  Reformer  spread  around  him,  Hamilton  became  a 
Lutheran  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  doctrine.  The  sight  of  Luther's  firm 
courage  and  constancy  gave  new  strength  to  the  young  Scot,  and  he 
could  not  long  admire  such  a  shining  example  of  heroism  of  faith 
without  himself  being  converted  into  an  evangelical  hero.     After  six 


—  44  — 

months  in  Lutheran  Germany,  Hamilton  returned  to  Scotland,  ready 
to  die  for  the  Gospel. 

He  preached  at  Kincavel,  and  also  in  all  the  country  round.  In 
consequence  of  his  preaching  the  monks  of  Kelso  complained  of 
"these  evil  times,  in  the  increase  of  Lutheranism",  and  the  canons  of 
Holyrood  bewailed  "these  wretched  Lutheran  times".  Soon  after  his 
return  to  Scotland,  Hamilton  married  a  young  lady  of  noble  rank. 
He  wished  to  show,  by  deed  as  well  as  word,  how  entirely  he  had 
cast  off  the  usurped  and  oppressive  tyranny  of  Rome. 

A  Lutheran  missionary,  with  royal  blood  in  his  veins,  was  a 
most  dangerous  heretic  in  Scotland.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost. 
Archbishop  Beaton  took  the  first  step  by  inviting  Hamilton  for  a 
conference  with  him  at  St.  Andrews.  Before  he  went,  Hamilton  told 
his  relatives  that  he  had  not  long  to  live.  But  as  Luther  went  to 
Worms  in  spite  of  the  dangers,  to  confess  his  faith,  so  Hamilton 
went  to  St.  Andrews  in  spite  of  dangers,  to  confess  his  faith.  He 
arrived  about  the  middle  of  January,  1528,  and  had  several  private 
conferences  with  the  archbishop  and  his  councillors.  Alexander 
Alane  especially,  a  learned  man  and  filled  with  burning  zeal  for 
popery,  made  every  effort  to  win  back  the  apostate  priest  to  the  doc- 
trines of  Rome.  But  the  young  Lutheran  divine  proved  more  than  a 
match  for  the  catholic  scholar  and  sent  him  away  to  his  study 
shaken  in  his  old  faith.  He  became  Hamilton's  fervent  admirer  and 
the  first  historian  of  his  teaching,  trial,  and  martyrdom. 

Alexander  Campbell,  prior  to  the  Dominicans,  also  often  talked 
with  Hamilton  and  acknowledged  the  truth  of  his  words.  "Yes,  the 
church  is  in  need  of  reformation  in  many  ways",  the  prior  said.  But 
later  he  betrayed  and  accused  Hamilton. 

When  Beaton  and  his  advisors  thought  they  had  gathered 
enough  material  for  Hamilton's  conviction,  they  issued  a  summons 
requiring  him  to  appear  before  an  assembly  of  clergymen  on  a  cer- 
tain day,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  holding  and  te'aching  divers 
heresies.  Hamilton's  friends  begged  him  to  flee.  But,  he  said,  he 
had  come  thither  to  confirm  the  minds  of  the  godly  by  his  death  as 
a  martyr  to  the  truth,  and  to  turn  his  back  now  would  be  to  lay  a 
stumbling  block  in  their  path,  and  to  cause  some  of  them  to  fall. 
An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  rescue  him  by  force.  An  ap- 
peal was  made  to  the  king,  but  the  advice  was  coldly  given  "that  the 
reformer  make  his  peace  with  the  church". 

Hamilton's  thirteen  articles  of  faith  were  submitted  to  a  council 
of  theologians.  Seven  of  these  articles  treat  of  the  Lutheran  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith,  the  other  six  treat  of  purgatory,  auri- 
cular confession,  etc.;  one  declares  the  pope  to  be  the  Antichrist. 
In  a  few  days  the  council  judged  all  the  articles  to  be  heretical. 
This  judgment  was  to  be  presented  at  a  solemn  meeting  of  the  high- 
est dignitaries  of  the  church  on  the  last  day  of  February,  1528. 

The  captain  of  the  castle  with  an  armed  band  arrested  Hamil- 
ton.    Everything  was  now  ready  for  the  last  act  of  the  tragedy.     On 


—  45  — 

the  appointed  day  the  people  crowded  to  the  cathedral  at  an  early 
hour,  and  the  archbishop  passed  from  the  castle  with  a  long  train  of 
bishops,  abbots,  priors,  and  doctors,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  chief 
bench  of  the  tribunal  of  heresy.  Friar  Campbell  read  the  articles 
with  a  loud  voice  and  charged  them  one  by  one  upon  the  prisoner 
and  argued  that  the  articles  were  heretical;  but  Hamilton  gently  and 
ably  defended  himself. 

"Heretic"!   Campbell  exclaimed,  "Thou  saidst  it  was  lawful  for 
all  men  to  read  the  Word  of  God,  and  especially  the  New  Testament". 


The  City  Church.  Wittenberi 


Hamilton  calmly  answered,  "I  wot  not  if  I  said  so;  but  I  say 
now  it  IS  reason  and  lawful  to  all  men  that  have  souls  to  read  the 
Word  of  God,  and  that  they  are  able  to  understand  the  same,  and  in 
particular  the  latter  will  and  testament  of  Jesus  Christ,  whereby 
they  may  acknowledge  their  sins  and  repent  of  the  same,  and  amend 
their  lives  by  faith  and  repentance,  and  come  to  the  mercy  of  God 
by  Christ  Jesus". 

"Now,  farther,  thou  sayest  it  is  not  lawful  to  worship  imagery'*. 

"I  say  no  more  than  what  God  spake  in  the  Second  Command- 
ment, 'Thou  shalt  not  make  any  graven  image;  thou  shalt  not  bow 
down  to  them  to  worship  them'." 


—  46  — 

"Heretic!  Thou  sayest  it  is  but  lost  labor  to  pray  to  or  call 
upon  saints,  and  in  particular  on  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  or  John, 
James,  Peter,  or  Paul,  as  mediators  to  God  for  us". 

"I  say  with  Paul,  'There  is  no  mediator  betwixt  God  and  man, 
but  Christ  Jesus,  His  Son' ;  and  whatsoever  they  be  who  call  or  pray 
to  any  saint  departed,  they  spoil  Christ  Jesus  of  His  office". 

So  the  hearing  went  on,  until  finally  the  Dominican  Campbell 
turned  to  the  judges,  saying,  "You  hear  he  denies  the  institutions 
of  holy  Kirk,  and  the  authority  of  our  holy  father,  the  pope.  I  need 
not  to  accuse  him  any  more". 

Such  was  Patrick  Hamilton's  noble  confession  in  the  face  of 
that  hostile  tribunal  and  large  assembly.  He  spoke  of  the  truth  of 
God  and  disguised  nothing,  though  well  aware  what  his  plain  speech 
would  cost  him. 

With  unanimous  consent  of  the  judges,  among  whom,  by  the 
way,  were  some  grossly  immoral  men,  and  one  boy  of  thirteen  years, 
the  archbishop  solemnly  pronounced  sentence,  ".  .  .  We  have  found 
the  same  Magister  Patrick  many  ways  infamed  with  heresy,  We 
have  found  also  that  he  hath  affirmed,  published,  and  taught  divers 
opinions  of  Luther  and  wicked  heresies  after  that  he  was  summoned 
to  appear  before  us  and  our  council.  .  .  .  and  therefore  do  we  judge 
and  pronounce  him  to  be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  power  to  be 
punished,  and  his  goods  to  be  confiscated".  The  tribunal  instantly 
rose,  and  Hamilton  was  led  back  to  prison  under  a  guard  several 
thousand  strong.  The  executioners  at  once  prepared  the  stake  at 
which  he  was  to  be  burned. 

Followed  by  his  servant  and  a  few  intimate  friends,  Hamilton 
accompanied  the  captain  with  a  quick  step  to  the  place  of  burning, 
carrying  in  his  right  hand  a  copy  of  the  four  Gospels.  He  uncovered 
his  head,  and,  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  addressed  himself  in 
silent  prayer  to  Him  who  alone  could  give  him  a  martyr's  strength 
and  victory.  The  book  he  gave  to  one  of  his  friends;  taking  off  his 
cap  and  gown  and  other  upper  garments,  he  gave  them  to  his  ser- 
vant, with  the  words:  "This  will  not  profit  in  the  fire;  they  will 
profit  thee.  After  this,  of  me  thou  canst  receive  no  commodity, 
except  the  example  of  my  death,  which  I  pray  thee  bear  in  mind. 
For  albeit  it  be  bitter  to  the  flesh,  and  fearful  before  man,  yet  it 
is  the  entrance  to  eternal  life,  which  none  shall  possess  that  denies 
Christ   Jesus   before  this   wicked   generation." 

The  officials  of  the  archbishop  offered  him  his  life  if  he  would 
recant  his  confession.  "As  to  my  confession,  I  will  not  deny  it  for 
awe  of  your  fire,  for  my  confession  and  belief  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Therefore  I  will  not  deny  it;  and  I  will  rather  be  content  that  my 
body  burn  in  this  fire  for  confession  of  my  faith  in  Christ,  than 
my  soul  should  burn  in  the  fire  of  hell  for  denying  the  same.  But 
as  to  the  sentence  pronounced  against  me  this  day  by  the  bishops 
and  doctors,  I  here,  in  the  presence  of  you  all,  appeal  contrary 
the  said  sentence  and  judgment  given  against  me,  and  take  me  to 
the  mercy  of  God." 


—  47  — 

One  writer  says:  "The  servant  of  God  entered  in  contemplation 
and  prayer  to  Almighty  God  to  be  merciful  to  the  people  who  per- 
secuted him,  for  there  were  many  of  them  blinded  in  ignorance, 
that  they  knew  not  what  they  did.  He  also  besought  Christ  Jesus 
to  be  Mediator  for  him  to  the  Father,  and  that  He  would  strenghten 
him  with  His  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  might  steadfastly  abide  the  cruel 
pains  and  flames  of  fire  prepared  for  him." 


.  ':'   •"      ' 


III 


I'liiversity  of  Wittenlierj 

Will.  Century  engraving. 


The  martyr  was  bound  to  the  stake  with  an  iron  chain.  Fire 
was  now  laid  to  the  pile  of  wood  and  coals,  and  it  exploded  some 
powder  placed  among  thn  fagots.  The  martyr's  left  hand  and  left 
cheek  were  scorched  by  the  explosion.  Though  thrice  kindled,  the 
flames  took  no  steady  hold  of  the  pile.  It  took  some  time  to  fetch 
more  wood  and  powder,  and  the  martyr  suffered  terribly.  Never- 
theless he  spoke  words  of  comfort  to  the  bystanders  and   addressed 


—  48  — 

himself  calmly  to  more  than  one  of  the  friars,  who  molested  him 
with  their  cries,  bidding  him  pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  To  one 
he  said  with  a  smile,  "You  are  late  with  your  advice.  If  I  had 
chosen  to  recant,  I  need  not  have  been  here."  Friar  Campbell,  his 
betrayer  and  accuser,  was  foremost  among  his  tormentors.  To  him 
Hamilton  at  last  said,  "Wicked  man!  Thou  knowest  it  is  the  truth 
of  God  for  which  I  now  suffer.  So  much  thou  didst  confess  to 
me  in  private,  and  thereupon  I  appeal  thee  to  answer  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ." 

Surrounded  and  devoured  by  fierce  flames  he  still  remembered 
his  widowed  mother  and  commended  her  to  the  care  of  his  friends, 
as  Christ  on  the  cross  commended  his  mother  to  John.  When  he 
was  nearly  burned  through  the  middle  by  the  fiery  chain,  some 
one  wished  a  last  sign  if  he  had  faith  in  the  doctrine  for  which  he 
was  dying.  He  raised  three  fingers  of  his  half-consumed  hand, 
and  held  them  up  steadily  till  he  died.  His  last  words  were,  "How 
long,  Lord,  shall  darkness  overwhelm  this  kingdom?  How  long 
wilt  Thou  suffer  this  tyranny  of  men?  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit." 

Hamilton  was  only  twenty-four  years  old  when  he  suffered 
death  for  his  Lutheran  faith.  The  doctors  of  Louvain  with  cruel 
joy  thanked  Beaton  for  his  "services  to  faith"  and  congratulated 
the  University  of  St.  Andrews  upon  the  honors  it  had  earned  by 
such  an  "edifying"  display  of  Catholic  zeal.  At  Marburg  the  grief 
of  the  Reformers  was  equalled  only  by  their  admiration. 

Hamilton's  youth,  his  noble  blood,  his  recent  marriage,  and 
his  unflinching  courage  moved  the  hearts  of  the  spectators:  "the 
smoke  of  Patrick  Hamilton  infected  all  it  blew  on."  "The  faith 
for  which  Hamilton  died  shall  be  our  faith,"  the  people  said.  And 
so  it  was.  Hamilton's  doctrine  lived  after  him  and  wrought  with 
a  heavenlike  virtue  in  the  nation's  heart,  till  it  leavened  the 
whole   lump. 

The  skippers  of  Leith  were  diligent  importers  of  Lutheran 
books  and  English  New  Testaments,  and  it  was  by  the  frequent 
reading  and  hearing  of  these  writings  that  the  people,  often  coming 
together  under  cover  of  night,  were  able  to  increase  their  knowl- 
edge of  divine  truth,  and  to  cherish  and  confirm  their  new  and 
better  faith.  To  the  north  of  St.  Andrews,  especially,  many  people 
turned  to  Lutheranism.  There  still  exists  in  that  district  a  village 
named  Luthermoor.  and  Luther's  Bridge,  and  Luther's  Mill,  and 
Luther's  Torrent,  which  falls  into  the  North  Esk.  There  Henry 
Forrest,  Scotland's  second  martyr,  was  bui-ned  for  his  Lutheran 
faith.  The  same  judgement  fell  upon  other  confessors  during  the 
following  years,  others  saved  their  life  by  flight,  losing  all  they 
had.  One  of  these  was  John  MeAlpine,  Prior  to  the  monastery  of 
Perth,  who  fled  to  Wittenberg  in  15  40  and  became  a  friend  of 
Luther  and  Melanchthon.  Upon  their  recommendation  he  was 
made  a  professor  of  theology  in  the  University  of  Copenhagen  in 
Denmark,  and  was  one  of  the  translators  of  the  Bible  into  Danish. 


—  49  — 

Thus  streams  of  blessings  flowed  from  Hamilton's  noble  confession 
over  Scotland  and  other  countries. 

Remarkable  incidents  occurred  in  the  life  of  Alexander  Alane, 
whom  we  already  know  as  one  of  Hamilton's  opponents,  who, 
however,  could  not  withstand  the  power  of  Hamilton's  spirit  and 
eloquence.  He  spoke  his  mind  regarding  the  cruelty  displayed  in 
Hamilton's  death.  Archbishop  Beaton  laid  a  trap  for  him  by  ap- 
pointing him  preacher  before  a  provincial  synod  of  clergy  in  St. 
Andrews.  He  preached  on  the  duty  of  the  clergy  to  feed  the  flock 
and  to  set  a  good  example.  His  words  gave  mortal  offense  to  the 
hearers,  who  in  no  wise  were  such  pastors  as  they  should  have 
been.  Alane  was  put  into  a  filthy  dungeon,  kicked  on  the  head, 
and  almost  killed.  Friends  helped  him  to  escape  on  a  ship  ready 
to  sail  for  Germany.  .  He  reached  Wittenberg  in  1533,  where  Me- 
lanchthon  changed  his  name  to  Alesius,  that  is,  the  Wanderer,  and 
from  that  time  he  was  known  as  Alexander  Alesius.  At  Witten- 
berg he  printed  two  eloquent  epistles  pleading  with  the  king  of 
Scots  to  permit  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  mother  tongue.  In 
1535  he  went  to  England.  The  king  made  him  a  teacher  of  theology 
at  Cambridge.  In  1540  Elector  Joachim  II  of  Brandenburg  made 
him  professor  of  theology  at  Frankfort,  and  later  he  accepted  a 
position  as  professor  at  the  University  of  Leipzig.  For  several  terms 
he  was  even  Rector  of  the  University.  Full  of  honors,  he  died 
.March  17,   1565. 

Patrick  Hamilton's  sister,  Catherine,  was  arraigned  before  the 
tribunal  in  the  church  of  Holyrood,  and  pleaded  her  own  cause 
with  great  spirit  and  courage.  She  answered  the  priests  very  clever- 
ly. Being  questioned  on  the  point  of  justification  by  works,  she  ans- 
wered simply  that  she  believed  no  person  could  be  saved  by  his 
works.  The  lawyer  held  a  long  discourse  with  her,  telling  her 
that  there  were  divers  sorts  of  works,  works  of  congruity  and  works 
of  condignity,  in  the  application  whereof  he  consumed  much  time. 
The  young  woman  growing  thereupon  into  a  chafe,  cried  out,  "Work 
here,  work  there,  what  kind  of  working  is  all  this?  I  know  per- 
fectly that  no  works  can  save  me  but  the  works  of  Christ,  my 
Savior."  The  king  was  sitting  on  the  bench  and  laughed  heartily 
at  her  answer;  yet  taking  the  gentlewoman  aside,  he  moved  her 
to  recant  her  opinions.  She  granted  to  his  princely  entreaties 
what  she  had  stoutly  refused  to  the  lawyer's  arguments  and  sophis- 
tical distinctions,  and  professing  her  submission  to  the  authority 
of  the  church,  she  was  allowed  to  escape.  But  she  again  became 
a  Lutheran,  for  in  1539  we  find  her  in  England,  an  exile  for  her 
faith.  She  was  not  the  only  fugitive  from  Scotland  for  her  religion; 
many  others,  some  of  the  nobility,  fled  out  of  Scotland  for  reading 
the  Scripture;  in  English,  saying  that  if  they  were  taken  they  should 
he    put   to   execution. 

But  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  could  only  be  temporarily 
halted.      The  most,  striking  and   impressive  proof  of  the  gains  made 


—  50  — 

by  the  Lutheran  movement  in  Scotland  at  the  close  of  the  Hamilton 
period  was  shown  in  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Parliament,  March 
15,  1543,  which  ordained  "that  it  should  be  lawful  to  every  man 
to  use  the  benefit  of  the  translation  which  then  they  had  of  the 
Bible  and  New  Testament,  together  with  the  benefit  of  other  treat- 
ises containing  wholesome  doctrine." 

Though  later  on  fresh  persecutions  broke  out  for  a  time,  this 
law  was  never  repealed. 


T8T 


8.    Antonius  Corvinus,  A  Faithful  Confessor  of  Christ. 

The  great  blessings  which  we  are  enjoying  in  having  the  pure 
Gospel  is  not  due  to  the  fighting  of  protestant  armies  with  weapons 
of  steel,  neither  is  it  due  to  the  shrewdness  of  wise  statesmen,  but 
it  is  due,  under  God,  to  the  men  that  were  willing  to  sacrifice 
liberty  and  life  for  the  Gospel.  Through  much  labor,  through 
great  self-denial  and  personal  sacrifice,  the  treasure  of  the  Gospel 
that  we  are  enjoying  in  peace  and  quiet  to-day,  has  become  ours. 
One  of  those  noble  men  who  labored  and  suffered  for  the  cause 
of  the  truth  was  Antonius  Corvinus,  of  Calenberg-Goet- 
tingen,  Hannover. 

For  five  years  the  excellent  Duchess  Elisabeth  had  acted  as 
guardian  of  her  son  Eric  and  during  this  time  had  succeeded  in 
establishing  Lutheranism  in  Hannover.  Her  right  hand  man  in 
that  work  was  Superintendent  Corvinus,  who  labored  untiringly 
in  Calenberg-Goettingen  to  bring  about  the  desired  reformation. 
About  15  44  he  wrote,  "False  worship  is  done  away,  the  true  is 
introduced.  The  convents  have  the  Word  of  God  and  are  reformed. 
The  pulpits  are  being  supplied,  as  much  as  possible,  with  pious 
and  proficient  men.  There  is  a  willingness  among  the  people  to 
reopen  hospitals  and  to  improve  the  sadly  neglected  schools,  in 
short,  to  do  everything  that  might  tend  to  the  furthering  of  God's 
Word  and  the  upbuilding  of  his  dear  church."  Corvin  made  every 
possible  effort,  by  calling  synodical  meetings,  by  visiting  congre- 
gations, by  publishing  an  excellent  book  of  sermons  and  other 
writings,  to  furnish  the  people  with  an  able  ministry.  The  question 
now  was,  how  will  young  Prince  Eric  take  to  the  change  that  the 
churches  of  his  realm  had   undergone? 

This  was  soon  to  be  seen.  In  the  year  15  4  3  Elisabeth  gave 
the  government  into  the  hands  of  Eric,  who  had  then  reached  his 
majority.  She  dismissed  him  from  her  guardianship  with  loving, 
motherly  admonition.  In  a  little  book  written  for  him  with  her 
own  hand  she  gave  him  most  excellent  advice.  Above  all,  she 
earnestly  commended  to  his  care  the  Word  of  God,  and  entreated 
him   to  remain   faithful   to   God. 

Soon  after  he  had  taken  charge  of  the  government,  Eric,  con- 
trary to  the  advice  of  his  mother  and  his  councillors,  resolved  to 
attend  the  diet  which  Emperor  Charles  V  had  called  to  Regensburg. 
This  diet  was  called  for  the  express  purpose  of  devising  ways  and 
means  to  remedy  the  split  in  the  church.  The  protestants  could 
not  help  seeing  that  action  was  to  be  taken  against  them.  The 
object  of  the  diet  was  to  devise  a  way  of  totally  extirpating  the 
Lutheran  "heresy."      With  a  heavy  heart  Elisabeth  saw  her  son  go. 


Before  his  departure  for  Regensburg,  Eric  was  earnestly  ad- 
monished by  the  court-chaplain  to  stand  up  for  the  Gospel  and  to 
remain  firm ;  he  also  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  pastor 
told  him  to  sacrifice  everything,  even  his  life,  rather  than  to  depart 
from  the  religion  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up.  It  is  remark- 
able that  Luther  had  a  clearer  insight  into  the  young  prince's 
character  than  those  who  were  much  more  closely  associated  with 
him.  After  he  had  seen  Eric,  who  with  his  mother  had  visited 
Wittenberg,  he  wrote  to  Corvin:  "The  devil  is  crafty  and  very  quick, 
therefore  cease  not  to  pray   and  to  admonish.      It  is   to  be  feared 


Knigrhts  in  Deadly  Conflict. 

Marble-relief  on  Tomb  of  Maximilian   I.  at  Innsbruck. 


that  the  young  prince,  if  he  will  associate  a  great  deal  with  our 
adversaries,  will  by  their  great  prominence  be  easily  made  to  fall 
away.  Let  me  frankly  tell  you  this."  It  happened  just  as  Luther 
had  anticipated. 

At  Regensburg  Eric  went  over  to  the  side  of  Emperor  Charles 
V  and  the  other  enemies  of  the  Reformation,  though  nominally 
he  was  still  a  protestant  prince.  Soon  after,  he  was  appointed 
commander  of  2500  horsemen  and  some  infantry.  He  did  not  then 
return  to  the  catholic  church,  but  by  accompanying  the  emperor 
to  mass  he  showed  how  little  he  cared  for  his  Lutheran  confession. 
He  believed  that  by  taking  the  emperor's  part  he  could  gain  polit- 
ical  advantages   and.    perhaps,   achieve   great   honor. 


—   53  — 

In  the  religious  war  that  followed,  Eric  was  ordered  to  be- 
siege Bremen  with  the  troops  under  his  command.  The  city,  how- 
ever, offered  brave  resistance  and  asked  the  help  of  other  cities 
that  were  friendly  to  the  Gospel.  Hamburg,  Lueneburg,  Bruns- 
wick, and  Goettingen  promptly  came  to  the  help  of  their  sister-city. 
When  their  army  approached,  Eric  lifted  the  siege  of  Bremen  and 
went  to  meet  the  coming  army.  He  met  them  at  Drakenburg. 
When  the  Lutheran  soldiers  saw  the  enemy,  they  fell  on  their  knees 
and  sang,  "In  peace  and  joy  I  now  depart."  Their  commander 
told  them  to  trust  in  God,  and  to  give  up,  if  necessary,  property 
and  life  for  the  pure  doctrine.  Then  they  rushed  against  the 
enemy.  It  was  the  first  time  in  this  unhappy  war  that  the  prot- 
estants  realized  that  they  were  fighting  for  their  faith,  and  they 
gained  the  victory.  Eric's  army  was  routed;  they  left  their  weapons 
behind,   and   Eric   himself   barely   escaped    alive. 


German  Soldiery.    1540. 

Innraving  by  Hans  Seliald  Bcliam. 


Still,  there  were  dark  days  coming  for  the  Gospel's  cause.  On 
the  15th  of  May  Charles  V  issued  the  so-called  Interim.  "Interim" 
means  "meanwhile."  This  Interim  was  a  law  governing  in  the 
meantime  all  matters  of  religion,  until  a  council  of  churches  could 
be  called.  This  Interim  was  simply  a  suppression  of  the  Word  of 
God.  It  prescribed  the  catholic  doctrine  in  all  the  main  points. 
and  so  established  the  catholic  religion  in  Germany.  And  Duke 
Eric  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  protestant  princes  who  accepted 
the  Interim  and  promised  to  subdue  the  protestant  doctrine.  He 
went  a  step  farther  and  himself  turned  back  to  the  catholic  faith. 
He  also  tried  to  induce  his  wife  Sidonia  to  depart  from  the  Gospel 
truth,  but  he  did  not  succeed.  She  declared  that  she  was  deter- 
mined   to   abide   to   the  end   of   her   days    by    the    faith    and    doctrine 


—  54  — 

which  she  was  now  confessing  and  that  she  would  allow  neither 
pain  nor  pleasure,  neither  good  nor  ill  fortune,  to  separate  her 
from  the  truth,  but  that  she  was  willing  to  leave  her  home  and 
her  people  and  all  things  on  earth  for  conscience'  sake. 

Eric  returned  home  with  a  feeling  of  estrangement  from  his 
own  people  and  their  faith,  embittered  especially  against  his 
mother  and  his  wife.  Mistrusting  the  Germans,  he  had  surrounded 
himself  with  Spaniards.  Spaniards  were  his  body-guard,  Spaniards 
were  his  councilors. 


Spanish  Soldiers  in  Germany. 

A  Contemporary  Engraving. 

His  mother  Elisabeth,  with  the  faithful  assistance  of  Corvinus, 
led  the  opposition  against  the  Interim  in  Eric's  domain.  In  the 
year  1549  she  called  the  clergy  of  the  land  together  for  a  synod 
at  Muenden.  More  than  a  hundred  and  forty  were  in  attendance. 
Elisabeth  herself  was  present.  Corvinus  had  brought  with  him 
a  declaration  against  the  Interim,  which  was  unanimously  accepted 
and  signed  by  all.  All  solemnly  promised  to  adhere  to  the  Lutheran 
doctrine. 

Corvin  made  every  effort  to  strengthen  his  brethren  in  their 
confession.  Preachers  who  had  been  driven  away  on  account  of 
the  Interim  found  counsel  and  help  with  Corvinus  and  Elisabeth, 
among  them  Justus  Jonas  and  Aquilla.  A  reward  of  one  thousand 
florins  was  offered  for  the  latter's  head.  But  soon  Corvinus'  own 
faith  was  put  to  a  severe  test. 


-— 


—  55  — 

On  November  2,  1549,  Eric  sent  Spanish  soldiers  to  seize  Cor- 
vinus  in  his  home  and  to  take  him,  together  with  Walter  Hocker, 
pastor  at  Pattenson,  to  Calenberg.  The  soldiers  destroyed  Cor- 
vinus'  valuable  library,  and  led  him  away  a  prisoner.  It  seems 
that  the  emperor  himself  had  instigated  the  arrest,  for  Eric  later 
referred  to  "the  command  of  imperial  majesty,"  when  speaking 
of  the  outrage. 

The  prince  believed  it  would  be  easy  now  to  enforce  the  In- 
terim, that  is,  to  suppress  the  Lutheran  doctrine.  Ruthlessly  he 
went  to  work.  Churches  and  convents  were  ordered  to  put  the 
discarded  decorations  back  where  they  had  been,  to  return  to  the 
former  clerical  garb,  and  a  visitation  was  instituted  for  the  purpose 
of  introducing  again  the  catholic  usages  in  all  the  churches.  Some 
of  the  clergy  submitted  to  this,  others  remained  steadfast,  and 
were  deposed.  Spanish  soldiers,  like  a  hostile  army,  raged  through- 
out the  land;  all  the  German  Bibles,  catechisms,  prayer-books,  and 
postils  they  could  find  were  confiscated,  torn  to  pieces,  and  burned. 

We  can  imagine  how  all  this  made  Elisabeth's  heart  bleed. 
She  had  brought  up  Eric  with  great  care,  hoping  he  would  protect 
the  Gospel  and  continue  her  life-work,  the  reformation  of  the 
principality.  And  now  her  son  had  become  an  enemy  of  the  Gospel 
and  did  all  he  could  to  destroy  the  work  of  her  hands.  After 
Corvinus'  arrest  she  wrote  to  her  son:  "O  God,  comfort  me,  a  poor, 
miserable,  sorrowful  mother!  What  have  I  born  into  this  world 
and  reared!  To  deny  the  known  truth  is  a  sin  which  is  forgiven 
neither  in  this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come.  Surely,  to  insult 
the  poor  servants  of  the  Word,  to  drag  them  back  and  forth  and 
to  treat  them  with  utter  contempt  is  to  insult,  capture,  and  afflict 
Christ  Jesus,  our  Mediator  and  Intercessor,  who  bore  our  sins. 
For  He  says,  'Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  them,  ye  have  done 
it  to  me.'  "Oh,"  she  emplored  her  son,  "how  can  you  cause  me 
this  sorrow?  Has  every  bit  of  faithfulness  and  faith  left  you? 
If  that  is  the  kind  of  obedience  you  learned  in  Spain,  then  may 
God  have  mercy  on  the  honest  Germans,  who  have  been  thus  for- 
saken by  one  of  their  native  countrymen.  I  cannot  write  all  that 
ought  to  be  written.  Let  me  ask  yet  one  thing  of  you,  desist  from 
your  wicked  purpose,  and  send  me  a  favorable  answer.  Give  Cor- 
vinus and  Walter  their  liberty,  and  give  them  in  my  care .  ...  If 
you  do  not  want  them  here,  and  if  you  are  determined  to  cast 
Christ  out  of  your  land,  do  it  not  with  such  tyranny,  but  let 
them  depart  with  honor  and  grace." 

At  the  same  time  Elisabeth  wrote  to  Eric's  councillors.  She 
sent  them  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  her  son,  and  admonished  them 
to  do  all  they  could  to  the  end  that  the  captives  be  released.  "If 
there  is  a  single  drop  of  blood  in  you  that  loves  Jesus  Christ, 
the  crucified  and  only  Savior  of  the  world,  we  hereby  beseech  you 
as  Christians,  be  not  so  dumb,  think  of  eternity,  let  this  terrible 
raging   and    mad    endeavor    touch    your    hearts,    and    help    with    the 


—   56  — 

other  cities  and  councillors  to  take  the  part  of  the  innocent  prison- 
ers, and  ask  our  son  to  release  them." 

The  same  day  she  sent  the  following  letter  of  comfort  to  the 
prisoners:  "Be  of  good  comfort,  patient,  steadfast,  in  your  suffer- 
ing, after  the  example  of  the  crucified  Savior,  let  nothing  terrify 
nor  mislead  you,  but  remain  the  called  and  chosen  of  Christ,  and 
thank  the  Lord  Christ  that  you  are  not  suffering  as  thieves,  mur- 
derers, evildoers,  but  that  you  are  counted  worthy  to  suffer  such 
persecution  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  for  you  will  receive  the  glori- 
ous, imperishable  crown  of  eternal  salvation.  Oh,  that  this  should 
come  upon  you  from  him  who  is  our  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  has 
forgotten  his  honor  and  good  name!  But  may  you  not  waver;  be 
strong,  and  fight  the  good  fight  of  confessing  the  pure  faith  and 
the  name  of  our  only  Savior  Jesus  Christ.  Pray  diligently  and 
commit  the  matter  to  the  Almighty,  He  will  help  you  wonderfully, 
as  he  helped  Peter." 

The  letter  was  never  delivered  to  Corvinus.  Eric  ordered  it 
to  be  taken  from  the  messenger.  He  did  not  even  consider  it 
worthy  of  a  word  of  reply  to  his  mother.  He  demanded  of  Cor- 
vinus to  surrender  the  paper  he  had  written  against  the  Interim, 
which  had  been  submitted  to  a  synod  and  was  signed  by  over  one 
hundred  and  forty  clergymen,  as  we  have  heard.  Corvinus  reported 
Eric's  demand  to  the  duchess,  but  she  refused  to  give  up  the  paper, 
and  in  her  reply  added  a  few  words  of  comfort.  She  also  wrote 
the  following  words  on  a  separate  slip:  "Dear  Corvinus,  I  sym- 
pathize with  you.  I  should  like  to  have  written  this  entire  letter 
with  my  own  hand,  but  I  could  not,  being  bed-ridden  and  ill,  yet 
I  have  dictated  it  to  the  writer,  and  in  so  doing  have  shed  bitter 
tears,  which,  no  doubt,  go  through  the  clouds  and  to  your  God 
and  mine,  who  is  our  strength  and  power  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 

The  petitions  in  Corvinus'  behalf,  which  arrived  in  large  num- 
bers from  many  cities,  were  gruffly  rejected  by  Eric.  He  strictly 
forbade  his  councillors  to  interfere  in  any  way.  Elisabeth  became 
seriously  ill  from  grief.  "Our  son,"  she  wrote  to  a  friend,,  "rages 
worse  than  any  papist  ever  did  against  the  holy  church  of  Christ, 
he  deposes  preachers  and  reestablishes   the  old  idolatry." 

However,  Eric's  endeavors  did  not  have  the  desired  effect.  In 
the  larger  cities  of  his  realm  the  Interim  was  simply  ignored.  To 
get  the  necessary  funds,  he  had  to  allow  Goettingen  and  Hannover 
free  exercise  of  religion.  In  the  convents  the  mass  had  again  be- 
come quite  general,  but  there  were  not  enough  priests  to  take 
the  place  of  the  Lutheran  preachers  who  had  been  driven  away, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  many  congregations,  especially  in 
the  country,  could  get  no  priests  and  did  not  turn  again  to  Catholi- 
cism. In  the  year  1557  Eric  went  to  Spain  and  discontinued  every 
communication  with  his  mother  and  with  his  wife,  Sidonia. 

Corvinus  was  left  behind,  a  prisoner.  The  captives  at  first  were 
roughly   handled.      Their   dungeon    was   so   damp   that   their   clothes 


—    0/    — 

rotted  on  their  bodies.  They  were  not  permitted  to  communicate 
in  any  way  with  the  outside  world.  Later,  it  seems,  they  were 
treated  less  severely.  But  the  captivity,  which  had  now  lasted 
several  years,  had  undermined  Corvinus'  health.  The  physicians 
declared  he  would  soon  die  if  he  were  not  set  free.  Induced  by 
the  urgent  plea  of  the  duchess,  the  councillors  took  courage  and 
approached  the  duke,  telling  him  of  Corvinus'  illness  and  entreat- 
ing him  to  give  the  prisoner  his  liberty,  lest  to  Eric's  shame  he 
die  in  the  dungeon.  The  representatives  of  the  nobility,  at  a 
meeting  in  1551.  had  also  expressed  the  desire  that  Corvinus  and 
Walter  Hocker  be  released  from  the  long  incarceration.  Many 
of  the  nobility  offered  to  give  bond  for  Corvinus.  But  all  was 
in  vain.     All  Eric  promised  was  to  speak  to  the  emperor  for  him. 

At  last,  late  in  the  fall  of  1552,  after  three  years  of  imprison- 
ment, the  hour  of  deliverance  had  come.  Unexpectedly  Eric  re- 
turned into  his  own  country  from  Spain.  He  came  to  Calenberg, 
and  after  a  conversation  with  the  prisoners  promised  them  to  give 
them  their  liberty  if  they  would  solemnly  promise  to  appear  before 
him  in  case  he  should  call  for  them.  A  number  of  prominent  and 
rich  men  were  required  as  guarantors  that  Corvinus  and  Walter 
would  do  nothing  to  take  revenge  for  the  injustice  they  had  suf- 
fered, and  so  they  were  set  at  liberty.  Corvinus  at  once  notified 
Elisabeth,  and  to  the  glad  news  he  added  the  request:  "We  beg 
most  humbly  that  your  royal  grace  would  meet  the  duke  motherly 
and  Christian-like  and  treat  with  leniency  anything  that  might 
tend  to  arouse  bitterness,  in  order  that  the  young  heart  may  through 
our  moderation  be  more  and  more  restored.*'  Surely  there  was  not 
the  least  grudge  in  the  heart  of  that  great  man. 

Eric  remained  a  stranger  to  Protestantism  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  but  his  fight  against  the  Gospel  was  lost.  He  declared  before 
a  convention  of  the  nobility  at  Hannover  that  he  had  ordered  the 
persecution  of  Lutheranism  to  the  imperial  command,  but  that 
henceforth  there  should  be  no  interference  with  the  preaching  of 
the  Lutheran  confession  in  his  principality.  Soon  after  that,  a 
decree  went  out  from  him  forbidding  to  oppress  or  even  annoy 
in  any  manner  the  adherents  of  the  Lutheran  faith.  The  deposed 
preachers  returned,  Lutheran  songs  were  again  heard  everywhere. 
and  the  Lutheran  order  of  service  was  reinstated.  Eric  gave  the 
direction  of  these  church  matters  in  charge  of  his  mother,  with 
whom  he  was  now  fully  reconciled.  The  Cospel  had  won  the 
victory. 

Corvinus  did  not  live  to  see  the  day.  When  the  meeting  at 
Hannover  marked  the  reconciliation,  he  had  been  two  weeks  in 
his  grave.  The  long  captivity  had  totally  undermined  his  health. 
He  had  conn1  to  Hannover  a  sick  man.  He  devoted  his  last  feeble 
strength  to  the  writing  of  a  prayer-book.  On  Wednesday  after 
Easter,   the    5th   of   April,    lie    hade   this   world    farewell. 


—  58  — 

When  the  bells  tolled  at  his  funeral,  Eric  asked  one  of  his 
servants  what  all  that  tolling  meant.  The  answer  was,  "They 
are  burying  Corvinus."  "Then,"  an  old  record  says,  "his  Princely 
Grace  began  to  weep,  and  retired  to  his  room,  where  he  remained 
over  an  hour."  We  can  well  imagine  that  bitter  remorse  filled 
his  heart.  During  the  following  years  he  wandered  restlessly  about, 
until,  in  158  4,  he  died  in  Pavia,  unwept,  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land. 


TST 


9.    Giovanni  Mollio,  An  Italian  Hero  of 
the  Reformation. 

In  the  beautiful  Toscana  region,  near  Siena,  Italy,  Giovanni 
Mollio  was  born,  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century  before  the 
Reformation.  His  parents  were  poor,  but  he  was  endowed  with 
great  intellectual  gifts,  and  very  early  showed  a  thirst  after  knowl- 
edge. The  Franciscan  Order  at  that  time  was  reputed  to  give 
a  thorough  scientific  training,  and  so  Giovanni  joined  this  order. 
He  was  prompted  to  take  this  step  also  by  the  care  for  his  soul, 
thinking  he  could  find  peace  for  his  troubled  conscience  in  the 
solitude  of  cloister  walls. 

About  this  time  the  sweet  notes  of  the  new-awakened  Gospel- 
song  were  wafted  from  Germany  over  into  sunny  Italy  and  thrilled 
many  a  heart  with  joy.  Mollio  was  one  of  those  who  were  mightily 
stirred  by  the  new  tidings  they  heard.  He,  like  many  others,  had 
experienced  that  neither  the  rough  monkish  garb  nor  the  strict 
observance  of  the  monastic  rule  could  give  rest  to  the  soul.  Neither 
did  he  find  peace  in  his  scientific  studies.  At  Milan  he  joined 
the  circles  that  sought  edification  in  God's  Word  and  were  ministered 
unto  by  evangelical  preachers.  Here  his  faith  was  mightily  in- 
creased and  he  gained  those  convictions  for  which  he  stood  to  the 
end  of  his  days. 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1532,  Giovanni  was  transferred  to 
Bologna,  where  Cardinal  Campeggio  resided,  who  had  .  advised 
Charles  V  to  "exterminate  the  poisonous  weed  of  the  evangelical 
church  with  fire  and  sword."  But  even  in  this  stronghold  of  popish 
darkness  there  were  in  these  days  of  the  Reformation  zealous  and 
brave  friends  of  the  truth,  even  among  the  professors  of  the  in- 
stitution at  which  Giovanni  was  teaching.  Giovanni  associated 
.with  those  men  and  was  so  led  deeper  into  the  truth  of  the  Gospel. 
They  realized  the  danger  in  which  they  were,  as  we  see  from  a 
circular  letter  that  was  written  at  Bologna  and  sent  to  the  friends 
of  the  Reformation  in  Italy,  and  which  contains  the  sentence:  "We 
also  know  that,  far  from  feeling  bitter  against  the  hateful  charges 
of  heresy,  you  would  rather  consider  yourselves  fortunate  and  would 
rejoice,  if  you  were  the  first  to  suffer  censure,  shame,  imprison- 
ment,  fire,   sword,   for  Christ's  name." 

In  Bologna  Mollio  lectured  to  appreciative  audiences  on  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  Since,  however,  the  doctrine  of  justification 
taught  by  St.  Paul  is  at  variance  with  the  catholic  doctrine  of 
meritorious  works,  indulgences,  purgatory,  etc.,  there  was  soon 
strong  opposition   against   Giovanni's   lectures,   and    a   quarrel   arose 


—   60  — 

between  the  factions.  Cornelio,  professor  of  mathematics,  under- 
took to  engage  in  a  public  dispute  with  Mollio  on  the  doctrine  of 
justification,  but  was  soon  put  to  confusion.  He  then  accused 
Mollio  to  the  popish  court  of  promulgating  heresy.  It  is  very  re- 
markable that  even  among  the  cardinals  at  the  pope's  court  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  had  gained  some  recognition.  Among  those  high 
dignitaries  Giovanni  found  some  supporters  and  protectors,  the 
cardinals  Contarini,  Sadolet,  Pole,  and  Fregoso.  Mollio,  who  had 
personally  appeared  at  Rome  and  frankly  stated  his  position,  was 
permitted  to  return  to  Bologna  after  the  Roman  tribunal  had  rend- 
ered the  opinion  that  his  doctrine  was  Scriptural,  but  that,  since 
it  could  not  be  proclaimed  without  injury  to  the  pope,  he  should 
desist  from  lecturing  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  should  dis- 
course on  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle  instead.  Mollio,  however, 
continued  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  a  sinner's  justification  by  faith. 
Consequently  Campeggio  transferred  him  to  the  convent  of  San 
Lorenzo  at  Naples,  in  the  ye*ar  1538. 

In  Naples  our  faithful  confessor  found  a  circle  of  highly  edu- 
cated and  refined  men  and  women  who  discussed  the  doctrines  of 
Scripture  among  themselves  and  soon  became  enthusiastic  adher- 
ents to  the  truth.  Their  leader  was  the  Spaniard  Juan  Valdez. 
who  now  introduced  Mollio  into  their  society.  In  Naples  Mollio 
again  lectured  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  was  gladly  heard 
by  large  assemblies.  The  people  panted  after  the  truth  of  the 
Word  of  God,  the  water  of  life.  When  his  friend  and  co-worker 
Bernardino  Ochino  would  preach  in  the  cathedral,  the  large  church 
could  not  hold  the  throng  that  came  to  hear.  An  eye-witness  of 
this  movement  exclaimed,  "Merciful  God,  what  a  rich  outpouring 
of  God's  Spirit!" 

But,  alas,  these  springtime  blossoms  of  the  Reformation  in 
Italy  were  withered  by  a  burning  blast  that  followed,  —  the 
Inquisition.  Indignation  waxed  stronger  and  stronger  at  the 
continued  reports  that  the  heretical  doctrine  was  publicly  preached 
in  Naples.  The  discussions  led  by  Valdez,  the  sermons  of  Ochino, 
and  Mollio's  lectures,  were  listened  to  by  spies,  and  every  deviation 
from  the  Roman  doctrine  was  carefully  noted  and  reported  to  Rome. 
The  condition  of  the  Lutherans  in  Italy  grew  more  hopeless  from 
day  to  day.  Valdez  died,  Ochino  left  Naples  with  a  few  friends 
and  went  to  Switzerland,  only  Giovanni  Mollio  stayed  at  Naples 
to  strengthen  the  little  congregation  which  had  been  flourishing  so 
happily.  Now  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  succeeded  in  con- 
vincing the  pope  that  the  spreading  of  the  Lutheran  heresy  could 
be  curbed  only  by  the  severest  measures.  The  pope  resolved  to 
introduce  the  Inquisition  (1542),  a  special  court  for  the  sup- 
pression  of  the   evangelical   doctrine. 

Mollio  was  compelled  to  leave  Naples.  For  ten  years  he  was 
watched,  persecuted,  imprisoned,  by  the  Inquisition  and  its  chief 
supporters,    the    Jesuits.      In    1553    he    was   captured    and    taken    to 


—   61   — 

Rome.  On  September  5th  of  the  same  year  he  was  placed  solemnly 
on  trial.  With  a  burning  torch  in  his  hand  he  appeared  before 
the  Inquisitors  and  confirmed  with  unshaken  courage  the  doctrine 
of  justification  alone  by  faith  in  Christ,  the  Mediator.  He  then 
scored  with  flaming  words  the  ungodliness  and  hypocrisy  of  his 
judges.  "The  pope,"  he  said,  "is  in  no  wise  the  successor  of  Christ 
or  Peter,  nor  is  he  the  head  of  the  church,  but  he  is  the  true  Anti- 
christ, who  with  impudence  assumed  tyrannical  power  over  the 
church.  Your  church  is  not  God's,  but  the  real  Babel.  You  des- 
pise   and    reject    with    atrocious    wickedness    the    Lord    Christ    and 


!l;\,\Vi',.\  »i;  Imrtl.K   *\  !'H  ET  f  \  ViiA'l    VX  If  T  h  >:\ 


fgnace  de  Loyola.  Founder  of  Hie  Jesuit  Order. 


His  Word.  You  do  not  really  believe  that  there  is  a  God  in  heaven. 
You  persecute  and  kill  God's  faithful  servants.  You  deprive  the 
poor  consciences  of  their  freedom,  and  oppress  them.  I  therefore 
appeal  my  case  from  this  miserable  court  to  the  judgment  throne 
of  Christ  at  the  last  day.  There  you  will  be  made  to  give  strict 
account  of  all  your  deeds  and  neglects,  and  unless  you  repent 
you  will  have  to  burn  forever  in  the  fire  of  hell.  As  a  token 
of  this  warning  take  back  the  burning  torch  which  you  put  in  my 
hand." 

With  these  words  he  cast  the  burning  torch  before  their  feet. 
Th;-  cardinals  and   bishops  gnashed   their  teeth   with   fury  and   com- 


—  62  — 


manded  that  the  man  be  removed  from  their  sight.  Then  sen- 
tence was  passed  upon  Mollio  and  his  fellow-sufferer,  Tisserano, 
that  they  should  be  hanged  and  their  bodies  burned.  When  Mollio 
heard  the  sentence,  he  looked  toward  heaven  and  said,  "O  Jesus 
Christ,  my  Savior,  my  highest  Lord  and  my  shepherd,  there  is 
nothing  on  earth  that  could  please  me  more  than  to  shed  my  blood 
for  Thy  name's  sake!" 

At  the  place  of  execution  Mollio  once  more  thanked  his  Re- 
deemer that  in  unspeakable  grace  He  had  granted  him  the  light 
of  His  Word  and  had  chosen  him  for  a  witness  of  the  Gospel.  Both 
faithful  witnesses  were  then  hanged,  and  their  bodies  were  burned 
to  ashes. 


CONTENTS. 


1.  "The  First  Lutheran."  3 

2.  Albrecht  Duerer,  Artist  and  Reformer S 

3.  Leonard   Kaiser,     a   Bavarian   Martyr   of   the   Lutheran 

Faith 16 

4.  Argula  of  Grumbach,    "the    German    Deborah    of    the 

Reformation  25 

5.  How  France  Drowned  the  Reformation  in  Blood 29 

6.  How  the  Gospel  Light  Came  to  the  Town  of  Verden 37 

7.  Patrick  Hamilton,  a  Martyr  of  Royal  Line 41 

S.    Antonius  Corvinus,  a  Faithful  Confessor  of  Christ 51 

9.     Giovanni  Mollio,  an  Italian  Hero  of  the  Reformation..  5  9 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


rtEC'O  LD-Ufti 
JAN  281999 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA      000140  649    5 


> 
'  Mr" 


4 


Univer 

Sou 

Lit 


